


Hunting for You

by NobodyCaresForYou



Series: Barbarian AU [1]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Broken PAK (Invader Zim), Cultural Differences, Experiments, F/F, F/M, Ghosts, Godly entities, He wasn't important either way, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Multi, OC's of mine will be included, Other Additional Tags to Be Added as the story goes on to avoid spoilers, Rating May Change, Red is a tribe leader, Swearing, Tribe Life, Zim has feelings, Zim is a prince, barbarian au, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2020-11-28 07:54:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20963081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NobodyCaresForYou/pseuds/NobodyCaresForYou
Summary: Barbarian AU | RaZr | When a tribe stumbles upon a small stranger they take him with them to nurse him back to healthiness, but the stranger turns out to be the prince of their planet. While trying to help they will stumble over secrets never meant to be found out and things are getting complicated for both parties.But that doesn't stop them from trying to do better, especially after the tribe leader realizes that he harbors more feelings for the prince than he wants to let on and his own tribe people get very invested in helping the prince, too. AND their leader.





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! 
> 
> In this AU all taller Irken are living in tribes in freedom, born warriors hunting living prey and collecting fruits and berries and the likes, while the smaller ones are snack eating city people living behind huge, unclimbable walls only to keep themselves safe from the unforgiving world around them. The world they live in will be explained some more as the story progresses, so stay tuned. :)

There was shouting behind him. Zim tried not to focus on it to keep on running, nearly stumbling over the thick roots the trees around him grew out of the wet mud. He had lost his boots some time ago and the slick underground just wanted him to faceplant straight into it. His legs felt heavy as he always got stuck some more in the mud and he had to use more strength to get his legs moving.

His lungs burned like fire and his eyes watered, there was sweat sticking to his skin where it was covered by fabric. But he could not stop moving or they would get him. He didn't dare look back over his shoulder, he knew where his followers were without looking.

Just how did he get into this situation? Two days ago he was the respected prince of the kingdom of Irk and now he was being chased like some kind of wild animal for the hunt. By Vortians none the less. Just.. How? And what had happened to his parents? To his servants? To his most rare alien slave? His broken entertainment bot and his pet?

His thoughts ran wild and so it finally happened, he stumbled and fell heavily into the mud, sliding over the dirty ground. He heard the voices again, nearer this time and he got up on shaky legs, frantically trying to shake the feeling of panic out of him. He needed a clear head if he wanted to survive, no matter how hard it was.

Instead of straight up running again he looked around for another option, maybe a hiding place. He found something he could use as one, a little cave under a thick and tall tree. He crawled there to avoid detection and dragged himself through the roots, making himself even smaller than he already was when he was hidden. He looked around himself again and began to cover his body in mud, rubbing it onto every available skin he could see to gave himself some camouflage. Then he laid down and waited, secretly praying to any deity he knew of for his plan to work.

The voices came closer, those dumb vortian guards he came to hate so much in the last 48 hours. There had been three of them when he had managed to flee, but now there were maybe eight. Zim had lost count of the voices once he entered the woods.

They stopped near his hiding spot, murmuring to themselves as they surveyed the ground underneath them, seemingly searching for his tracks. Zim's heart was beating a million miles per hour. No matter how hard he was trying to fuse to the mud surrounding him, once they spotted his tracks and followed them they would find him and he would be taken back to that damn prison.

“He cannot be far.” One of the guards said, earning humming noises in return. “Let's split up, two go into this direction-”

Of course they had to split up. Zim cursed his ever existent luck. He listened to their orders and listened for sounds and soon he heard the rustling of bushes and the breaking of wooden material under heavy boots. They went away from him. 

They actually left!

But Zim stayed alert. Even if those idiots weren't able to find him, there were greater dangers in these woods to keep himself save from. Like the tribe folks that lived in the area. Zim had no idea where he was even located in this huge forest, but he was under the impression he made it in far enough to be in their territory. Meaning he was far away from his home.

Zim wept as he sucked in a heavy breath and willed himself to keep quiet. He could cry later when he was at least save enough from the guards to move again.

~*~

The sun had set for the day and the forest was painted in darkness when Zim got out of hiding again. He had fallen asleep some time after the guards had left and woke up when he had heard something chirp next to him. It had only been one of those flying creatures that built nests high up in the trees. Zim just shooed it away and sat up. He rubbed at his eyes, wincing when he got mud in them.

Off to a great start then.

Zim crawled out of the roots and stood up stretching his hurting back and limbs. Thanks to the scientists in the castle he was able to see more in the darkness than the average Irken working as servants, and right now it certainly came in handy. He took in his surroundings once more and noted that he was absolutely surrounded by trees and thick bushes. Thankfully there was no wind and the temperatures were quite acceptable so he didn't mind walking in the dark. Even if the heavy woodwork made it hard to navigate.

He walked to the spot where he had fallen, wondering why the guards hadn't seen it in the first place. When he got there he was growing more confused than before.

Where was no track. No imprint he had left in the mud from falling, not even footprints! Just how was that possi-

There a crack behind him and Zim turned so fast he nearly got dizzy. He saw nothing behind him, just the vast forest with its stupid trees and other plants. But he noted something else.

His hiding place was gone.

There was no tree with thick roots anymore, no cave, just a small bush with strange looking leaves.

Great, now he'd gone mad, Zim thought. He shook his head slightly and walked to the bush. He didn't know what he expected to find and he did find.. nothing. Just the bush, and nothing more.

There was another crack behind him and Zim froze. This one was nearer than the one he'd heard before and he turned slowly, looking over his shoulders to see behind him. Still there was nothing there, but Zim realized rather quickly that the forest had changed again.

Zim sat down.

He took a deep breath and kept his antennae trained on his surroundings. This didn't make sense at all. He never heard of a haunted forest anywhere on Irk and he didn't believe in magic or the likes in the first place, but he had to by honest with himself. He had escaped the prison, he was wide awake, he had been in that cave for some hours and yet the forest changed like some sort of maze whenever he didn't look in a particular direction.

What could he do? He wasn't trained in navigating through an ever shifting forest, and it was dark, so how should he-

Cold air grazed his neck with a sound unlike anything he'd ever heard. Zim grew still. Someone or something was breathing down his neck and Zim hadn't heard the approach. At all. There was no other sound to be heard in the forest and Zim felt panic climb into his throat. What now?!

He let whatever it was breath down his neck three more times before a bolted for a run, not daring to even look what was there behind him. Fear had crept into his body, making his movements stiff and somehow he felt slower with each hasty step he was taking. He heard something trample behind him accompanied by some growling and Zim catched himself shouting.

“Don't be real, don't be real, don't be real!!” He repeated it like a mantra and kept on running, no matter how tired and drained he suddenly felt. 

When he fell the next time he knocked his head on a stone, falling unconscious while he rolled down into a small trench.

~*~

“Would you quit your giggling and actually work with me here?!”

“No can do, this is the first time we are out of the camp since two weeks and we are going to enjoy it!”

“Don't be stupid, we need to collect the things they ordered, so fucking concentrate!”

They bickered some more while they walked through the woods and their leader looked out for berries and fruits they could collect and take back with them to their camp. They would soon be traveling again and they needed a big food stash for the move, or else they were doomed. Since they were females they needed to gather the things needed for cooking and medicine and the males hunted living prey. That's what was making them different from those privileged small Irkens in the city. While those would live on sweets and something they called snacks the tribes were actually living of the things they hunted and collected for themselves. They didn't know what those city lining people thought of them but didn't cared about it either. To them they were weak in muscle and mind so they gladly kept their distance to them.

Muri sure as hell was glad to be born into a tribe and not into the city. She knew that her companions Yeeza and Klig were at least curious about the city but they wisely kept their distance to anything city related.

Well, until today that is.

“Muri, I think there lies someone..” Yeeza said behind her and Muri stopped in her tracks to look where she pointed. True to her word there was a small Irken lying down in a trench, partly covered by fallen leaves.

“We should check on them, maybe they're still alive.” Klig said and rushed to the small form.

“Keep your guard up, this one looks like a city born.” Muri hushed. “You'll never know what will happen.”

“Yeah yeah, but I am sure this one's unconscious. They got a head wound that stopped bleeding some time ago but they are still breathing. Shallow, but still there.” Klig said and put the back of her hand to the strangers forehead. “They're cold. We should take them with us.”

“They will have our heads if we bring a city born into our camp!” Yeeza growled and Muri nodded silently. Klig watched them shortly and then turned back to the small Irken on the ground.

“Look, as a medic I can't just leave them behind. They're wounded, it'll be unethical.”

“You and your ethic, how about us surviving the rage of our elders, huh?” Yeeza bristled and crossed her arms. Klig looked to Muri for help and the tallest of the group let out a sigh.

“We'll take them. BUT-” Klig looked to hopeful for Muri's taste. “You will keep them outside of the camp. I'll help you set up a tent for the time being, but when you nursed them back to full health they'll have to leave. Got it?”

Klig nodded like a maniac, happiness written on her face. “That will do!”

“Anybody got an idea how we should smuggle out a tent and built it discreetly some meters away from our camp? Also, Red WILL notice if his fav medic goes missing from time to time.” Yeeza wiggled hey antennae suggestively and the other two groaned audibly.

“We will make it somehow. For now, let's get him to our camp and then we will look for our 'prey' again while Klig nurses that Irken.” Muri quoted with hand signs and turned to the small form. “I'll carry them.”

~*~

Getting the stranger into the camp was hard work Muri quickly realized. As it would always be, whenever you were in a hurry or had something to hide everybody would want something from you. “Have you found something?”,”What's in your back, it leaking..”, et cetera. At the leaking part she heard Klig suck in an sharp breath next to her and Muri excused herself from the conversation to RUN to Klig's tent.

She knew the looks they were gathering for that.

“Make quick work, we will be as fast as possible with collecting and return to you. You know the plan.” Muri had whispered before she had stormed out of the tent again, nearly colliding with a tall form. She screeched to a halt mere centimeters away from her tribe leader, Tallest Red, who looked down at her in confusion. Funny as it was, Muri was only a head shorter than Red but to have him looming over her put her into slight panic.

Especially now, with their secret lying in Klig's tent three meters behind her.

“Why the hurry, Muri?” Red asked evenly, even if his ruby eyes screamed suspicion at her. Muri swallowed the big lump that had formed in her throat and smiled at her leader.

“Well, we are kinda late for harvesting and collecting, so I wanted to make do as quickly as I could, my Leader.” She said but she could tell that Red wasn't buying it. He did nod and rub his chin seemingly in thought, though. Just an act as her's, mind you.

“Really? And it has nothing to do with the strange scent I can smell, coming from you?”

Oh no.

“I don't know what you mean, my leader. Maybe you mistake it for the scent of the forest.” Muri tried smiling again but it didn't help, as ruby eyes looked at her saddened. Red leaned down to rub the side of his face into her's, then he spoke again, quiet, but with an underlying note of a growl.

“Do not lie to me. Why did you bring a city born to us?”


	2. Of instincts and tribe life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have 21 pages written for this AU until now and they keep on coming, so yay! 
> 
> Some more explanations on the tribe and its people. Plus, someone new. Enjoy! :)

Unknown to most of his tribe the leader was always gifted with heightened senses. Better hearing, better eyesight, and most importantly, a much better sense of smell than anyone else in the tribe. That was what was making him their leader, aside from some other 'qualities' he needed to have. But right now he was smelling something foreign he hadn't smelled for years and it was rubbing him the completely wrong way.

The way Muri was standing in front of him didn't help either. She never cowered before him, she never shook in fear of him and right now she was doing all this. She didn't dare look at him after he had taken a straight posture again and that was all Red needed to know before he walked around her and walked up straight to Klig's tent.

He came to a halt before he entered, listening for any sounds inside that indicated the medic was moving things around, or more importantly, hiding said things. He did hear something, the clinging of fine crafted metal, so Klig was doing something with her medical instruments.

That would explain the weird scent he had smelled. 

City born Irkens had blood as thick as honey and as sweet smelling as sugary nectar, and that had been what he had caught onto. So this city born was wounded. Not wonder Klig had taken them with her. He looked over his shoulder at Muri, who watched him with panic in her eyes. Some other Irkens had taken a stand behind her too, all too curious what could bring their leader to the medics tent without any seen injury in a time like this.

Red huffed a snicker and then parted the tents entrance curtains to step in.

He wasn't met by a squeak as he had predicted but instead by the quiet humming of Klig who was working over someone he could not see. Curious as he could be he tried to get a look at their guest but the medic shot out her hand (her blood covered hand at that) and motioned for the tribe leader to sit on one of the medical beds. Red huffed an annoyed breath and went over to one of the two beds and plopped down on the one nearest to Klig.

“Mind telling me what's going on?” He tried after 10 minutes but Klig only growled in response. So Red waited some more. He heard the low murmurs outside of the tent and the rising questions on what was going on. Red could not blame his people. Normally the tribe leader would be in his own tent, planning their soon to come move to their winter camp and not minding the business of the other tribe folks, so he was something like a rare sight these last days.

He watched Klig work in silence, occasionally changing the tools she was using. The ones she put aside onto a metal tablet were covered in pinkish blood and Red wondered what kind of injury the stranger had gotten. And what his story was.

No Irken in their right mind would enter these woods willingly. Even the ones who lived in them like his tribe never went into the forest at night, too afraid of all the ghosts and demons one could encounter. And while the younger ones in his tribe believed the stories to be simple child scaring stories, the older ones knew they only spoke of the truth. Red would never forget the night he was forced to stay in the forest to show that he was able to survive even the direst of circumstances. The night where he saw that thing, not an animal and not one of his race, undead, stinking of rotten flesh, with empty eye sockets that had stared right into his soul.

Those things were the main reason they would be moving and never come back after their stay in their winter camp. In those last months the forest grew more alive at night and more lost souls seemed to wander through the trees, searching for something they were never destined to find. Red had talked to their shaman about those beings and if there would be any way to help them, but the shaman had only shaken their head. Whatever this forest grew on, the ground was soiled with blood and secrets too cruel to tell.

Klig stood up straight again and Red took that as the cue that she had finished whatever she'd done. Her green eyes turned to look at him, shame filling them when she finally got back into the present. So she knew what she had done wrong, Red thought.

“Can I see now, Klig?” Red then asked in a hushed tone and the medic silently nodded, stepping to the side when Red walked up to her.

This had to be the smallest Irken he had ever seen. Like.. he'd seen the city people once, and this one was tiny as hell. Red looked at the medic next to him then back to the small form. He had a stitch wound on his head next to his left antennae and marks all over his body, like he had taken a heavy beating from someone. His rips stood out a little and Red raised his antennae in curiosity. He looked at Klig again.

“Explain, please.” The medic shuffled her feet and looked anywhere but at Red.

“We found him in the forest, in a trench. He must have lied there for two days, the wound on his head had stopped bleeding and he was cold to the touch. His wounds-” She pointed to the marks on his body. “Seem to be the aftermath of torture, so whatever happened to him, it wasn't the forest alone. Also, he's positively starving.”

“That I can see. What do you think when he will wake up?”

“I can't tell with smaller Irkens when they do something or when they start to heal. Since they are living in relative safety behind their stupid walls their PAKs don't really work for them, other then help being lazy. At least that's what Muri told me once.”

“Well, he needs to eat something. It hurts to look at him like.. this.” Red made a pointing gesture to his own upper body and Klig smiled.

“So you want to keep him here? I thought city born aren't allowed in tribes.”

“He will leave some day. But for now, we will help him get back on his feet.” Red looked at the small Irken again, not telling Klig that his heart was doing flips inside his chest. Of course his instincts had to get active when he saw a small Irken. Curse his luck.

-

Klig didn't leave the small Irkens side. She had put an IV in his arm to keep him from starving to death but it only did so much. The marks were gone and his head wound had healed, so she counted those as a small victory. 

He would not wake up, though. 

Klig sighed like she had done so often for the past five days since they had found him. The medic part of her was glad her leader had given his allowance to keep the stranger in the camp rather than built a separate tent outside of it. But the normal Irken part of her thought of this stranger as what he normally would be. A foreigner. Maybe even an enemy, a spy disguised as a wounded little thing to awaken pity in the tribe people so they would take him in.

Logic told her that she was being irrational. The clothes he wore when they found him were simple fabrics they would give you in prison, and while they were torn to shreds she had made out which prison he had been to. And that only raised more questions in her, since she never heard of Vortians taking in Irken prisoners, at least when they were living in the city. Tribe Irken were a whole different thing, hence why she knew about the clothes origins.

She had burned the fabrics after she had freed the stranger from them, and that's when she saw what main gender he had. No matter if city or tribe born, all Irken came with both sets of genitals, but you could see which gender would be the prominent one in the way the slits were formed. Females would have a bigger labia, while the males labia were small to make room for their male appendage. They could still use both if wanted. Klig had heard of some city born females that would curl their antennae to show off their gender without having to get naked, and she thought of that as a really elegant solution. 

If tribe females would do that they would get laughed at. Not fierce warrior walked around with cute, curly antennae. Which made it hard for outsiders to differ their sexes, but that was fine with them. That way everybody could be what they wanted to be and everyone would accept it. No questions asked. Klig still wondered sometimes how she'd look with curly antennae though.

She had put tribe clothes on the stranger to keep him warm, and now he was dressed in something that looked a lot like a too long kimono. It matched his eye color which she had seen when she checked them for injuries and made him look a lot like a tribe smeet of around 4 years old.

Why were city born so small?

Klig huffed a breath and stood up. Sitting here would get her nothing to eat, and it was time for their feast after all. She exited her tent to join her comrades around the huge fire place in the middle of the camp. Smeets of all ages were running around playing with each other, while their parents sat down and talked with others. The older ones sat secluded from the rest, playing board games and sipping some brew made of leaves. The hunters of their tribe had not yet returned from their hunt, so there were mostly females there, along with some males that had chosen to carry for their mates.

It was comfortable this way. No loud arguments or boisterous conversations that got unnerving after the third evening hearing them. The negative side effect was the meatless feast they were forced to have. Their meat savings had been emptied in the time they were not allowed to leave the camp, and now they had to share anything they had left with each other. Klig just hoped the hunters would return victorious, with lots of meat so they had something nutritive and sating again instead of just crumbs of the last edible food.

“Yo. Anything new on our guest?” Yeeza sat down next to Klig, offering her some fruit she had gotten. Klig took something that looked poisonous but was 'healthy as fuck', as Yeeza would say.

“Still unconscious, but at least he's alive.” The medic bit into the fruit, spilling the juice of it over her clothes. She grimaced at that but continued eating. She was hungry after all.

“Maybe he's taking a beauty sleep or something. From what I gathered, the shorter the Irken, the more important he is in the city.” Yeeza was slurping away at some other fruit with lots of juice, not caring about the mess her tunic was now drenched in. “Have you seen Muri somewhere?”

“Not today. She stays away from the camp as long as she can, she's ashamed for bringing the tiny one here.”

“Huh. But wasn't that your idea?”

“It was, but she was our group leader that time, so she has to take the consequences for us. I don't know what kind of punishment Red has given her though.”

“Aw come on, Red would never punish her for anything, and you know it. They are like siblings.” Yeeza chuckled under her breath and selected another fruit out of their shared pile. “I just haven't seen her the last days, does she even eat?”

“I sure hope so, we can't afford her to lose her strength.”

-

Red was sitting over some documents for the workers that would dismantle their camp when he heard someone cough behind him. Red knew who the visitor was, but he didn't want to talk to that person at all. But now that they were standing in his tent right behind him he couldn't just ignore them. He steeled himself and stood up, turning to look at the unwanted guest.

“How long do you plan on keeping that city rat here with the tribe?” Elder Spork, hated former leader of their tribe, asked Red who just wanted to strangle that old bastard to death. But no, he was not allowed. But natural death would not come to get Spork either, so the tribe and its current leader had to sit it out, so to speak.

“He's still not awake, and you know our tribe ethics. No one in need is to be left behind, no matter their origin.” Red sure was glad that he knew the tribe rules by heart, or he would not have something to argue with. Spork looked at him disdainfully. 

“That may be true, but how do you know the medic isn't keeping him unconscious herself? Last time I saw that Irken he had an IV inserted to his arm.”

“That's just an IV for the essentials his body needs so he doesn't die, and you know that.” Red knew that Spork only tried to bait him. The elder was still bitter about losing his position to Red and he let him feel it every time they would meet. Red tried his best to avoid any meetings of course, but Spork was relentless. And god damn irritating.

“Really? Well, I sure hope he wakes up before we leave this place, otherwise I do advise you to just leave him behind. We don't need someone who holds us back, and certainly not one mouth more to feed when we have trouble feeding our own people in the first place.” Spork smirked a dirty smile and Red wanted to punch his teeth out for that. “Consider it. Your duty is to your tribe first and foremost.”

The green clad elder left him after that and Red wanted to go after him to- No, stay calm. Violence would lead to nothing, and while hated their tribe still needed Spork. He was the best at negotiating with other tribes and since Red lacked that skill they still had to rely on Spork.

But the old idiot was wrong. Their tribe was good, they were not starving at all and more importantly, they were a very healthy tribe. Especially when it came to offspring. When he'd last seen the tribe leader of their rival tribe he'd learned that they lost more smeets then they could even make in the first place, and Red's tribe had gotten 6 smeets after the last mating season. That may not be a big number, but all things considered it was a good thing.

Red seriously wondered when Spork would ask him when he would have offspring. Red lead the tribe for 3 years now and so far he had not taken a mate or at least a brood mate for mating season, even when the line of admirers was long, even outside his own tribe.

Red simply had never felt the need for anything intimate until now. That's when his mind went to the unconscious Irken in the medical tent that had yet to wake up. The leader was curious to who he was, what position he had in the city, if he was single..

Yeah, no, he would not ask him that once he woke up.

Red shook his head and went back to the documents. The workers wouldn't even need them, they were building and dismantling tents since forever, but on Spork's advice (or order, really) they had to give some sort of information on how they'd do it, and Red would have to sign them off. Normally he would do so without even reading what they wrote but he needed the distraction ever since he saw the stranger.

It wasn't healthy at all, but there was pull inside him that ordered him to be near him, to protect him, and.. his instincts were going haywire completely. Red was starting to grow irritated at his own body and its demands, but he had a responsibility to his tribe so he had to keep it down. Or at least try to. Klig would laugh at him if she ever knew of that and tell him something obvious he already knew. 'Get laid and it'll be better' or something like that.

If only it was that easy.

“My leader?” Came a voice outside of his tent and Red felt a smile creep into his face. Thank Muri for always stopping by whenever he needed distraction.

“Come in.” He said and turned to face the entrance when Muri parted the curtains. She looked tired and hungry, and a little dirty with her muddy clothes. “Have you found something?”

“Not really. But there is a suspicious amount of Vortians in the woods, they seem to be searching for something.” Muri rubbed her dark circled eyes. “Other than that there's no lead to our little stranger.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Muri. It's really appreciated.” Red looked around in his tent for something to give to Muri, preferably something to eat. He found some dried meat and a piece of bread and went to get it for her.

“I do think those Vortians are looking for him. But, why? There's a city full of the likes of him, what makes him so special?” The female wondered out loud and Red twitched his shoulders in answer.

“Maybe he's with some organization or something. I'm sure he will tell us, once he wakes up.”


	3. Dressed and afraid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the chapter title should have been 'Naked and afraid' since I originally planned to have our favorite invader run around naked at first, but oh well. 
> 
> That said, yes, he is finally back and the story starts for real. Woohoo!
> 
> Enjoy! :)

Zim awoke to the dull sound of singing somewhere near to him. His head was pounding like he had partied all night long and he groaned in pain. He had yet to open his eyes, but he felt warm and cozy where he laid, so that counted for something. Zim reached to grasps his antennae, massaging them gently to easy the pounding in his head before he tried to sit up. His body was hurting all over and he hissed, sucking in air through clenched teeth. He fell back against the mattress he was currently situated on and tried to hold back the tears of pain he felt welling up.

Just what the hell had happened?

He tried to center his mind by going through the memory files in his PAK, trying to make a sense of what he was seeing after he had fled from the prison and its guards. A strange forest, he hid somewhere and fell asleep, and in the darkness everything didn't make sense anymore and suddenly he was running away from something that was chasing him. And then everything went black.

Had he knocked his head somehow?

Zim rubbed his eyes and opened them finally, trying to see through the blurry fog that had built on them from not using them. Just how long had he been out? He rubbed them some more and tried again, finally able to make something of his still blurry surroundings. Everything was white and there were two other beds in the room, that much he was certain of. But the rest? Zim looked down at his hands, noting that he was wearing something magenta, and when had he taken off his gloves? Even in prison he was allowed to wear them aside of the gray uniform and his boots.

Wait. He wore gray the last time he checked, why did he wear another color now?

Zim's sight finally cleared and he took in his surroundings fully. This was no room, this was a tent. The beds were real, but he was in a fucking tent! The only people who would use tents were the wild Irken living in the tribes, so that meant..

Fuck. He was with a tribe. They had found him and taken him with them. He was a prisoner again!

Panicking he looked around him for something he could use as a weapon and saw the IV lines next to him. He followed their length to see where they ended, and he wanted to scream in fear when he saw it connected with himself. They were poisoning him! Zim grabbed the needle inserted into his arm and pulled it out slowly, throwing it to the side once he had it out. He rubbed the sport that started bleeding after being opened and swung his legs to the side. They were dangling over the edge and Zim realized that the bed he was in was way higher than any bed he had ever laid in, his feet would not touch the ground till he jumped from it.

Why did the tribe Irken have to be such giants?!

Zim tried to calm himself by taking deep breaths. If he wanted to escape he would need a calm mind and a clearer head, just like in the vortian prison. He looked around himself again, searching for a weapon only to see that not even a vase was in the tent. Of course there wouldn't, he thought after a while, why leave a prisoner with something that could become dangerous to them? Zim grasped his antennae to pull on them, his headache and achy body momentarily forgotten.

He needed to get out. He couldn't stay here or he would be as dead as he would have been in the vortian prison. Zim jumped off the bed and landed ungracefully, his legs too sore to catch him any better. He shook his head when he stood up, plus shaking his limbs to get them going, too. He still heard that strange singing outside of the tent, but he swallowed his curiosity to sneak around in the tent for some kind of escape.

The tents walls weren't connected with the ground, so he used that to his advantage. He raised the leathery walls to crawl under them, hoping he wouldn't be greeted by some sort of guard. He wasn't though, all that greeted him was grass and dirt on the ground in front of him. Zim let out a breath he had held unconsciously and continued to crawl until he was out of the tent. There was another, bigger one on the other side of this tent, and he checked both sides next to him for anyone who could have seen him. There was a barrel on his left, so he was relatively hidden from the people who were singing somewhere behind it. He could see shadows dance on the other tent, illuminated by some wavery light. 

A fire, huh? So they really were like wild animals. His father had always told him stories about cannibalistic tribe folks that hunted for small Irken like them, only to roast them on a stick over a fire. And then they would dance around it and call to their gods and so on.

Maybe they had someone on a stick this time. Maybe even a Vortian. Zim was really curious to what was happening there, but he needed to focus. He checked his right side, another barrel and some wooden crates stacked on top of it. Next to the other tent were crates, too, and Zim decided he would at least search for a weapon before he ran from the tribe. Plan set he sprinted to the bigger tent and raised its walls to crawl into it.

He was met by something soft under his hands and when he looked down he realized that it was some kind of fur, soft to the touch and heavenly warm. If Zim wouldn't be in a hurry to flee he would have laid down onto it. He looked around and took in the inside of this tent, noting that this would most likely be a tent that was being lived in. There were other fur carpets on the ground, some furniture that looked really well made and looked after, books in a small shelf and a a very big bed adorned with pillows, quilts and more furs. There were clothes scattered around on the floor, too, and Zim stood up. He looked down at himself again, realizing for the first time that he was wearing something really cozy and warm that matched his eye color perfectly. It still was something weird, it could be opened way to easy since all that held it in place was some kind of cord made out of the same fabric as what he was wearing. He'd never seen something like this, and the clothes on the floor resembled what he was wearing. Also, it was way too long for him.

So he wore typical tribe clothes? It was nothing short of a wonder that he hadn't stumbled and faceplanted yet.

Zim looked around again and saw something that didn't match with the rest of the tent, some lone curtains of a different color. The tent and its inside was matched in red and brown colors along with some cream and white due to the furs, but those curtains were straight up black as the void. There had to be something hidden there Zim thought and he made his way over, antennae on high alert in case someone came in since he was alone for now. The singing had stopped outside and it had become quiet, which was slightly frightening Zim.

When he'd reached the black curtains he sucked in a breath and parted them slowly, only to nearly bulge his eyes when he saw what was hidden there.

It was some kind of extension to the living part of the tent, only that this one was filled with weapons and a very prominent armor in the middle of it. Zim slowly stepped into the extra space and looked at the collection of swords, spears and bows that rested on their respective racks in absolute awe. Each weapon was colored in black, red and golden adornments, making them look like art rather than actual tools for fighting. The armor that stood there was the same, colored in the same colors, but looking like it was made for taunting its enemies instead of keeping the fleshy body that wore it safe. There was shoulder plate armor with some kind of horns attached to it, gauntlets for the lower arms and hands, a simple chest plate with a row of little metal plates over the region where the middle and lower upper body would be. That was followed by heavy looking leg armor, knee plates that looked a lot like the shoulder armor with its horns and some kind of fabric between them that looked like it had seen better days. It was simply red and torn at the end near the feet and had many holes in it. There was some kind of cape hanging behind the whole armor, but Zim doubted that this piece was actually worn in battle and was just for décor. 

Zim swallowed. What he was seeing was like the inside of his father's weapon chamber, just way cooler and looking way more feral. Deadly even. And it was nothing what he would have ever expected.

When his father had told him that the tribes were made of wild Irkens he had always imagined them as some strange looking monsters that somehow resembled Irken but not actually looked like them. That they were dumb creatures that hunted with their teeth and claws instead of with weapons. His father had told him stories about encountering them, those dumb animals that brought shame to the Irken race. But seeing this now he seriously doubted that any sort of dumb, animalistic thing would use this for anything. All of this looked like it belonged to a very skilled warrior, a dangerous warrior. 

His whole world view shattered in an instant and Zim panicked. He turned to exit the extra tent quickly but stopped just shy of the black curtains when he heard a voice behind it.

“You are wise to come out with raised hands. And come out slowly.”

Zim swallowed the heavy lump that had built inside his throat and looked around him for a way out. But something told him that he would be dead way quicker if he tried to escape than if he just did what the other one wanted from him. He slowly raised his hands over his head and shakily stepped through the curtains. He kept his eyes trained to the floor, too afraid of what he would see if he looked up. 

He just learned that tribes were not animals, damn it!

He was greeted by green feet that looked very much like his, only bigger, attached to long and lean but strong looking legs, partly covered by a red gown that looked like his own. At least that what he could see, he didn't dare look up farther than that. What he could see though was the glinting metal of a polished sword blade that was pointed straight at him. Zim's knees began to shake in fear.

“What are you doing here?” He heard the other one say and Zim tried to answer, but nothing would come. He bit his lower lip and fell to the floor kneeling, bowing to the stranger. His forehead touched the ground and his antennae were laid out straight away from his head.

The ultimate show of respect where he came from. He just never would have thought that he, the prince of Irk, would be bowing to a tribe member.

“Uh.. could you please stop doing that? This is weird.”

What?

Zim raised his head a bit in curiosity to glance at those legs again (those long long legs, hell). The blade wasn't pointed at him anymore and the feet shuffled a bit like their owner was nervous. What the heck..? He finally lifted his head enough to see the rest of the other one, and he forgot to breath for a short time.

This could not be. There stood a tribe member, a wild Irken, and he looked perfectly normal aside from being freakishly tall! And kind of.. attractive, but Zim crossed that thought from his head as soon as it had struck him. Ruby eyes looked at him with the same curiosity Zim had felt before, long antennae were raised to underline the emotion. Toned muscle under green skin could be seen where that weird outfit they both were wearing revealed it. He looked like a young adult, not having any wrinkles in his face. He did have a scar at his throats side that looked like it should have killed him when it had been a fresh wound but hadn't succeeded. 

Zim swallowed. This had to be a weird dream, he was in the castle and dreamed of all this. He leaned up to kneel properly and scratched his own arm to see if he was awake. It hurt like hell and he hissed when he saw the scratches starting to bleed, so he was definitely awake.

He just hadn't calculated the tribe Irken's reaction. In an instant he was kneeling in front of him, taking a hold of the arm that had done the scratching and the one that had been scratched to look over the new wound.

“Are you crazy?! Klig only just stitched you back together and you give yourself a new wound?! ' The hell is wrong with you city people?!” The taller one's reaction seemed completely genuine when he shouted at Zim for his action, and the prince was now perfectly confused. He must have looked like it, as the other one snapped his long fingers in front of his eyes to get him back to him again. “Are you listening? Do you even understand me?”

“...I .. what..?” Zim finally managed to stutter out, his eyes not leaving the worried face of the taller Irken. That seemed to surprise the taller one slightly as his eyes widened when he heard Zim's voice.

“So you DO understand me. That's great, I'd hate to not hear and understand your explanation on what you're doing in our forest. But first things first, this needs to be bandaged.” He pointed to the still bleeding scratches and Zim shook his head to break free from his stupor.

“Wait.” He then said, hopefully halfway evenly, which made the taller one look at him in silence. “Just.. what am I even doing here? How did I get here? Where is here? Where's my home? What-” The other one shushed him with a finger to his lips.

“Easy there. Let's make a deal, yes?” He smiled at Zim and the smaller one got slightly warmer. What the hell..? “We're going back to Klig's tent, she will bandage your new wounds, and you will tell us what we want to know for now, and maybe we can answer you some questions of your own. How does that sound to you?”

That sounded like an awful idea to Zim, but he didn't say it aloud. He only nodded and the other one beamed at him. “By the way, my name is Red. What's yours?”

Should he lie? No, that wouldn't help him any more. “Zim.” He murmured instead and Red nodded his head at that.

“Interesting. Now, let's get you to our medic.” Red moved to grab Zim and the smaller one knew what he intended to do without Red saying it. He pushed away from the ground to get some distance between the two of them, earning a confused look from the taller one.

“Never. Ever. Manhandle. Me.” Zim said pointedly and looked at Red with what he hoped would seem like anger. “That's a big no-go in our city.”

Red eyed him at that and then smirked. “Well, excuse me for feeling the urge to carry you. Your so tiny you could be one of our oldest smeets. It's an instinct.” 

Zim shook with real anger now. How dare this idiot to joke about him?! He moved to stand up on his own two legs and walked briskly around Red, who had begun to snicker at the smaller one's reaction before he followed him.


	4. You are who?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one fought me, and it's the shortest chapter this far. I had it written differently but I wasn't satisfied with it so I had some parts re-written. *sigh*
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy! :)

Red watched the small Irken – no, Zim – when Klig bandaged his scratched arm. Zim looked nothing short of irritated now, and the leader silently wondered where that came from so suddenly. First he had been so full of fear that he looked like one of the forest creatures for a short while, pale to nearly white in color, and now he was wearing his head so high like he was one of the biggest assholes where he came from. Maybe his little joke had riled him up more than he thought.

Red wasn't scared by such a temper or dare he say it, character, since it certainly made Zim way more interesting than before, but it did worry him. Not for himself or for Klig, who was fulfilling her duty as the tribe's medic with utmost care while being the most calm and patient Irken in this whole damn camp (aside from the shaman, but they didn't count), but for the rest of his way too curious tribe. 

When Klig had seen that Zim had vanished she had come out of the medical tent in panic, signaling to Red who had just left his tent to get some fresh air that something was wrong. The leader had come to her normally, not running, so he would not alert the rest of his people who were singing 'good luck'-songs for the still gone hunters. When she had pulled him into the tent and showed him the empty bed he had felt slight fear, because a stranger alone in their camp with no supervision? 

Bad idea, really.

Days prior he had given his tribe a short explanation to why a city born was currently with them, and after he'd assured them that he would not let this stranger out of his eyes they were content enough with the situation.

So for Zim to vanish so suddenly was the worst case scenario. Luckily Red had been able to smell the sweet scent of his blood again when he stepped outside the medical tent and he thanked the little one for not knowing about his heightened senses. The blood on the IV that Zim had ripped out was enough of a probe for him, and he had heard Klig call him a 'bloodhound' before he'd left her. What was a bloodhound even? When he followed the scent he heard a muted purring somewhere in HIS tent, and he stopped dead in his tracks.

What the hell was the little one doing inside his tent?! And what's with the purring?!

Red wanted to ask Zim that, but by the looks of it he would have to be really lucky to get even one answer out of him. Klig had finished bandaging Zim's arm and winked at Red, before she turned to leave the tent. Red watched her go and then took a deep breath to steel himself while sitting down on one of the medical beds to face Zim.

“Alright, now back to our deal.” He said and eyed the smaller one carefully. Zim didn't look at him and instead chose to survey his claws. “Now, who are you and why are Vortians looking for you?”

Zim looked at Red from the corner of his eye, his eyes slightly widening. “What do you mean, 'looking for me'? How do you want to know that?”

Red swallowed the uprising irritation and looked to the ceiling. “Well, suddenly you show up, and then the Vortians show up, and Klig told me you were wearing a Vortian prison uniform when they found you, and I just connected the dots.” He swung his legs to ease some of the tension from his body. “Now you'll tell me something. Why are they after you? And why were you in prison? It's not their style to kidnap city Irken, they normally like to chase our young when they still have the chance before they get too tall for them.”

Zim didn't answer straight away, he seemed to sort his mind before he answered. “I'm.. they wanted to..”

“Just say it, I wont bite. Promise.” Red smiled, trying to lighten the atmosphere when Zim continued to stutter, so different from his demeanor just minutes ago. Were mood swings a thing with small Irken? No, Zim actually looked downright confused now, but why? The smaller one took a deep breath, opened his mouth only to shut it again. Red raised his antennae in curiosity and tapped with his fingers on the soft foam he was sitting on. Was it really that difficult for Zim to just tell him? Or did he think of a good lie now, to hide the truth? Red couldn't really decipher the small Irken.

Then Zim shook himself, sat up straight and looked Red dead in the eye. “I was kidnapped because I am the prince of the Irken kingdom and heir to the throne.”

-

There was silence. Crickets were singing between them and Zim eyed Red for any reaction – which he got a minute later, when Red broke out into a laughing fit. Zim watched him in utter confusion. The taller one held onto his stomach and threw himself sideways on the bed he had sat on, howling in his .. whatever it was. Zim rolled his eyes after two more minutes of Red laughing at him and stared at the entrance curtains. He could just walk out and he'd be free again, it was so close..

“Alright, okay, hold on a sec!” Red wheezed suddenly and sat up again, grasping Zim's left shoulder with his huge hand. “You seriously want to tell me, that YOU are a prince?! Dude, no way!” 

“Why is that so hard to believe? I am the second smallest in our kingdom after my father, the KING, just for your interest.” Zim pulled a face when Red continued to cackle. The taller one wiped away some tears from his eyes and tried to calm down when he saw Zim's expression. 

“You are serious? Like, for real?” 

“I am! And take your filthy hand off me!”

“Sorry, princess.” Red could be happy that Zim wasn't currently in possession of a weapon, or else he would have shot or sliced his head straight off. The taller one did take his hand back and used it to straighten his right antennae that had gotten slightly crooked when he had tumbled to the bed in his laughter. Zim winced when he saw that.

“Doesn't that hurt?” He asked and Red looked at him with a deadpan expression.

“I don't have much of feeling left in that one, had it nearly ripped off my head when the city people threw bombs at us for bathing in a lake near the walls.”

“Wha- But how can you still be alive?!” Zim asked horrified and Red's gaze darkened slightly when he gave him a look, then he looked away abruptly..

“Someone gave their life for mine. Protected me.”

“Who was it?” Zim couldn't help ask, but Red snorted a quiet laugh at him.

“Don't get me wrong, but we don't even know each other, so I won't tell you. But let's just say that it was someone very dear to me.” 

Zim could not argue with Red's logic. He wouldn't tell a stranger something so personal, too. He did eye the antennae though, grasping his own in sympathy. It was this moment that he looked at the scar on Red's throat again. Maybe he got this one from something like this, too. It wasn't unheard of in the city that sometimes tribe folks were attacked when they dared to get too close to the walls. Zim had never understood that, but since he had learned only bad things about tribes he never questioned it further. If it did good to the city's security he wouldn't have ever forbidden it, once he would have been king, that is.

But now he did wonder, why keep them from the walls if the walls could not be climbed or invaded or whatever? That was just unnecessary blood shed in his eyes.

Red coughed shortly and Zim fixed his gaze on him again. “I doubt that you will tell me any more of what had happened to you before we found you, so let's leave it at that.” He smiled at Zim normally again and the prince didn't question anything anymore. He just wondered if the rest of this tribe was as friendly as Red. Or was all of this just an act? “There are some other people who want to meet you, shall we go?”

“I can't exactly say no, right?”

“Damn right, little one.”

~

If Zim wouldn't have known any better he would still think he was in that damn forest.

Everyone in this tribe was so tall that he had to crane his neck really hard to even see their faces, and the worst thing were the smeets. A freaking 4 or 5 year old smeet was taller than him! Like those trees he had seen!

Normally he didn't mind when other Irken were taller, since in the city shortness was what really was important. But now, outside of the city walls shortness didn't count for anything, it was a hindrance at best. Zim felt horribly left out for the very first time in his young life. The tribe people were best described as curious, but friendly. No one said a bad word to him, no one called him names. One of them did ask if he was still growing, though. Zim simply shrugged in answer and the other one seemed satisfied with that.

It was so much different from his home that he seriously began to wonder what of the things he had learned about tribe folks was actually true. He had so many questions and seemed to be on par with the people themselves on that, but Red stopped the questioning before it could really began.

“Let's not overdo it for now, I believe our guest is tired by now, too. Also, it's getting dark, so you know what that means.” A collective acknowledging of his order was Red's answer and the crowd dispersed to find their respective tents. Zim grew more curious but he could not ask, as Red had scooped him up and carried him to his tent. The same tent he had found Zim in.

And he was manhandling him. That fucking..

Red sat Zim down on one of the many furs on the ground when they entered the tent, with Red going back to hang something akin to a net over the entrance. He secured it with silvery clasps to the tent walls, checking the nets position when he was done. Zim watched the whole thing with more questions rising in the back of his head.

“It keeps the souls away from us.” Red suddenly said and Zim perked up, his antennae raised in alarm.

“What souls?!” He squeaked and Red looked at him incredulously. 

“I believe that you have encountered them already. The forest gets alive once the sun sets, and the undead and lost souls come out to play. They chase you when you run, they love to frighten you with little sounds, like the cracking of woods or the rustling of leaves behind you when you expect it the least.”

Zim felt a shiver creep down his back when he remembered the cold breath that had sent him running that night. “I have.. encountered one of them. I didn't see it though, I was too afraid to turn around.”

“That was the right thing, believe me. But let's end that here and now, or else I won't be able to sleep tonight.” Red rummaged around in some sort of chest and only came back when he had found what he had been looking for. He handed Zim something and the smaller one took it with caution. 

When Zim looked at what Red had given him he began to salivate. In his hands he was holding a bag of jellies he would always devour when he was mad at his father, back in the city and back in his home. They were his absolute favorite, and – wait a second, where “- did you get those?” Zim heard himself ask aloud suddenly. Red sat down on his big bed and stretched his arms over his head.

“A little souvenir I got when I snuck into the city to finish some old business. Don't worry about it, you can eat those, I don't like your type of food anyway.”

“Those are a rare treat, even in the city, so this is kind of a really luxurious souvenir.” Zim held the bag up to read the printing o the plastic. “They will never go bad, so you can save them forever. Why give them to me?” Red looked at him sheepishly.

“I doubt that you could eat anything we normally eat, so..”

The prince looked at the bag in his hands again. The colorful delicacies glinted in the low light of the tent and Zim felt his stomach growl, but it felt wrong to just take something like this rarity. 

He did take what he wanted no matter the consequences, back in his castle, he was a prince after all. But this felt entirely different to Zim and he looked to Red again. The taller one had laid down on his bed but still faced him, seemingly waiting for something Zim would have to say. The prince swallowed and put the bag aside, next to him on the fur.

“I guess I have to thank you.. You saved me after all, so I owe you one.” Zim played with the hem of his dress (he simply called it that now) and peeked to the leader still watching him. Red smiled lightly.

“Actually it wasn't me who saved you, maybe you should thank the girls who did tomorrow. But nonetheless, you're welcome.” Red was grinning at Zim now and the prince felt his right eye twitch lightly at that. But he needed to keep his royal butt in his non existent pants, Red didn't know about the etiquette when talking to someone of royal heritage. These coming days would proof to be hard for the prince in Zim, he just knew it.

“I'll try.”


	5. Girlpower

The first hard lesson of living with a tribe (or its leader) Zim had to learn, he learned in the first night with Red.

He had to earn his place to sleep. Or a bed for himself.

While Red would apologize to Zim for the 'inconvenience' he would say 'Just be happy I lend you the fur your currently on.' in the same breath. And Zim had wanted to just jump at Red and claw his ruby eyes out for that. But he'd held back. While not knowing anything about the people and their traditions he was currently with, he did know, purely logically, that he would be punished if he did something wrong or didn't even try to fit in. 

Well, he didn't plan on fitting in, he wanted to go home. He wouldn't live with a tribe, even if they saved his life, he would pay them something when he was back in his castle with his father and his servants and that would be it. He didn't see the need to integrate himself into something he didn't plan on becoming a part of, so why bother? Sure, Red had told him that he had to stay with them till he was all healed up again, but Zim didn't feel ill in the first place. He may have lost some body fat while he was unconscious, even before when they wouldn't give him snacks in that damn prison, but that didn't count for him on being 'not healthy'. Zim felt fine. Hungry, since he hadn't eaten the jellies Red gave him, but still fine.

He didn't feel so fine after he woke up from a very bad sleep. 

Zim had studied the tent while he tried to get tired at night, listening for sound outside the leathery walls, even watching the tribe leader from time to time, who had slept soundly and peacefully. Zim didn't know if Red just didn't see him as a possible threat to his life or simply was confident in his fighting abilities, but he sure as hell didn't seem to have a problem sleeping while having a total stranger in his personal space. Zim had snorted at night when he thought about it, trying to not feel insulted that he may be right with both of his musings.

But now he was groaning, slowly lifting his upper body to sit. His back hurt like hell, and even if the fur was fluffy and warm, it certainly was not made for sleeping on. At least not while laid out on the unforgiving ground. The bed next to him was empty Zim realized when he tried to stretch his achy back muscles and there was a basket some inches away from 'his' fur with a note attached to it. Zim stretched some more before he reached over to grasp the basket, pulling it into his lap and taking the note.

'Didn't want to wake you, hope you can eat these. - Red'

Zim raised his antennae in curiosity and peeked under the cloth that had been put on the basket. There were some strange things inside, but some of them actually looked like berries and fruits. Or, something that resembled those things. Zim grimaced since those things looked absolutely inedible and horrible, plus he had never in his life eaten a raw fruit. All that was eaten in the city were snacks made out of those ingredients, not the raw things, since the city people believed raw sugar to be bad for their bodies. Also, the sugar level was synthetically raised while snack making to ensure their bodies were able to digest the food. But Zim guessed that if he wanted to have snacks, he would have to make them himself, and he didn't for the life of him know how to do that.

He had two options: Simply leave the basket be and not eat anything, or at least try and hope he'd survive it. Zim eyed the basket's contents one more time, before he decided that he would not eat anything of it. He put the cloth over it again and put it aside to stand up. He looked to the tent's entrance, pondering what he should do now, when a voice came from the outside.

“Zim? You up?” Now who was that? And how did they know his name? Nevertheless he walked to the entrance to part the curtains, revealing a tall Irken behind it. Strange, didn't the voice sound somehow female? Where were the curly antennae? The other one looked down at him, munching away on something that looked like a grass stalk. Their eyes were of a strange, pinkish color and they wore a tunic that looked like it hadn't been washed for years. Strange enough, it didn't stink, so Zim thought it to be acceptable. No boots were on their feet and Zim came to the conclusion that tribe folks simply didn't wear anything on their feet. Weird, but ok.

“Yes, I'm up.” He said then and the other one changed the location of their grass stalk from left to right mouth corner, looking bored.

“I can see, ya know. I'm Yeeza, tribe's drug lord. Or pharmacist, as you city people say.” Yeeza crossed her arms over her chest. “Red said he wanted you to come with us today. We're going to the forest.”

“Who is 'us'?” Zim asked when he saw no one standing behind the tall female.

“Just come. You need new clothes too, medic burned your old ones.” With that Yeeza turned and began to walk, leaving Zim to stumble into a run to follow after her. The female was walking at a lazy pace but still the small prince had to jog next to her to keep up, and Zim wanted to scream. While not as tall as Red, Yeeza was still a tree compared to Zim and the smaller one seriously wondered how he should keep up with them doing whatever they're doing in the forest, when he had to run just to keep up with Yeeza fucking walking.

They came up to a yellowish tent and Yeeza rattled on something that made a strange noise next to the entrance. “Helk, wake the fuck up, you have a customer!” She bellowed and Zim heard something crash behind the leather, followed by a ground shaking thud. The prince swallowed when he heard a growl and he instinctively hid behind Yeeza's legs. The female looked down at him at that, still looking bored, but grinning now. “Afraid?”

Zim puffed up his chest at that, but he stayed where he was. “Like hell! Zim is never afraid, of anything!”

“Whatever, short one.”

There were heavy foot steps behind the tent's curtains and Zim hid some more behind Yeeza. What in Irk's name was that?! He got his answer when the curtains parted and a very bulky, very muscled and VERY TALL Irken stepped through them, rubbing his green eyes while glaring at Yeeza. Zim felt like falling unconscious.

This one was way taller than Red! How could that be when Red was the leader, when he was supposed to be the tallest and strongest in the tribe, just what-

“What is it, I had a long night!” A very light voice squeaked when the living flesh wall talked, and Zim froze.

“Like I said, you have a customer. Red wants some robes for the tiny one here.” Yeeza stepped to the side to reveal a shaking, very flushed, very much not trying to laugh Zim, covering his mouth with tears forming in his eyes. Helk eyed him and then rolled his eyes.

“Go on, laugh. Everybody does that.” He said in his high voice and the prince broke out laughing, dropping to kneel on the dusty ground, punching said dusty ground and wheezing. Zim could not see the other two Irken like that, but he did hear them. Slightly, as his laughing was too loud for his own ears.

“Do I really want to make something for this guy?”

“Yes, you do. Red's orders.”

“Aw, always my pleasure. When is he finished?”

“I give him five minutes.”

Zim was done after four and a half, but that wasn't important. He stood up again, rubbing the many tears of laughter from his eyes before he bowed to Helk. “I am really sorry for laughing at your voice!”

“Don't worry about it, everybody laughs when they hear him for the first time.” Yeeza said to his left, pulling him upright again by his antennae. Zim winced lowly at the treatment, but he guessed he deserved it. “Zim, this is Helk, he is the tribe's robes and armor maker, or tailor and smith for city folks. Helk, this is the prince of Irk, Zim.”

“Oh, I know, I heard about him.” Helk said and Zim did realize that the need to laugh at his voice had subsided. He looked up at the big Irken's face, searching his eyes, that blinked at him without hurt or insult. So it really wasn't a problem, huh? “Come on in, I will take your measures and then get to work, we can't have you walking around in that kimono forever, yes?”

-

Half an hour later Zim was outside of Helk's tent again, surprised to see that Yeeza had waited for him. Her pink eyes looked at him like they did before, and the prince wondered if the female took some of the stuff she was making herself. She was the most relaxed next to that medic guy in this tribe, at least what he had seen now. 

“I guess you're familiar with that treatment?” She asked then and Zim nodded.

“Yeah, I have to do that all the time in the castle. But now I am actually curious what he's sewing for me. He.. is a 'he', right?”

“Yup. Why?”

“Just curious.” Zim would not tell Yeeza that he had troubles identifying gender without the curly antennae.

They were walking again, Zim jogging next to the female, and this time they left the camp. Not very far, mind you, but far away enough that the tents vanished behind thick bushes and trees. That's when Zim saw the medic, sitting on a fallen over tree trunk, with another Irken next to him. The medic was still wearing the white tunic he wore yesterday but with a brown quilt thrown over, while the new Irken wore something that reminded Zim of a long brown dress with a cut out to give their legs some freedom to move, along with a cream scarf wrapped around their neck. The newcomer was the tallest of them as of now, with the medic being the shortest.

Two pairs of eyes, one green and one a different shade of red looked at them when they got near, with the medic standing up and waving at them. Yeeza and Zim came to a halt before them and Zim sheepishly bowed to them in greeting. The medic chuckled, while the newcomer scoffed at him. Zim stood up straight again, confused over the mixed reactions.

“Zim, this is Klig, but you have met her yesterday, right?” Yeeza introduced shortly, but Zim gaped at Klig suddenly. The pink eyed female stopped her next sentence when she saw the reaction. “What's wrong?”

“You are a female?! I thought you were male!” Zim screeched and pointed at Klig, who began to laugh.

“Why did you think that? Oh, maybe because I didn't talk yesterday, right?” She said smiling widely, and Zim realized that yes, she hadn't said anything when he met her. “Are you confused because of our antennae?”

Hit the nail straight on its head, will you? Zim nodded while trying to hide his face behind his hands, earning another laughter, this time from Yeeza along with Klig's. The only one who didn't move or anything was the newcomer, and Zim looked up at her. This one was beautiful, Zim realized belatedly and he flushed slightly when she looked back at him, her red eyes staring straight into his magenta ones.

“So, this is Muri, second in command in case Red cannot lead or something.” Yeeza supplied helpfully from the side lines, and at that Muri grimaced at her.

“You make me sound more special than I really am, stop it.” She said, looking back at Zim who was still flushed. “How are you feeling? Last time I saw you I carried you in my bag, back to our camp.”

“I'm feeling fine, I think. Just a bit hungry.” Zim answered a bit shyly, and next to him Yeeza snorted. Klig made a gasping sound which drew his attention to her.

“But haven't you eaten the fruits Red has gotten you? I put the mix together myself, they are good for you, plus your body can digest them easily!” She looked shocked and Zim began to feel bad. He should have taken option two as it seemed.

“Aw man, Red got you foodies, I'm jealous.” Yeeza sighted dramatically and Zim felt the flush creep back into his face, this time stronger.

“Don't make fun of him, Yeeza. Klig put the fruits together, not Red, so shut it.” Muri said helpfully and Yeeza shut up with a snort. Klig still looked shocked, so the red eyed female snapped her fingers in front of her eyes, getting her back to reality. “He still has lots of time to eat once we get back. We don't have to go far to collect this time, so we better get going before he actually starts to starve.” Klig just nodded and then smiled again, turning around to get her bag that still hung from a branch on that tree trunk.

She's not that special, but those two listened to her orders without resistance? Zim seriously doubted that Muri was as unimportant as she claimed to be, the air around her was filled with too much authority for that.

-

They got to a series of weird looking plants and bushes, all full of some of the fruits Zim recognized from the basket he'd gotten. Klig started to pull the fruits from their bushes to drop them into her bag, Yeeza did the same, only with another sort of fruit. Zim watched them before he looked up at Muri who stood behind him, looking over their surroundings. When Zim heard Klig hiss and whine he turned back around, seeing that the medic had cut herself on a thorn the bush she plucked from seemed to grow. She had sucked her wounded finger into her mouth, with Yeeza laughing at her next to her. She said something like 'loser' to the medic, who shot a glare at her before she continued to collect the fruits.

Zim looked back at Muri, who was now looking at him, surprising Zim a bit, but he caught himself quickly. He turned to her fully and bowed again. “Thank you for saving me!” He heard a gasp behind him. “To all of you!” He added, before turning to the other two females, still bowing while turning.

“No biggie, bro.” 

“No need to thank us, really!”

“We just followed our code.”

Three answers came at the exact same time and Zim had trouble understanding them, but he could make out their meaning nonetheless. He did turn to look at Muri again, though.

“Code?”

“I call it code, Red calls it 'ethics', its the same really. But rest assured, if it hadn't been for the code we wouldn't have taken you with us. So you got lucky.” Muri said, looking into the forest again. “Naturally, we tribe people are curious to you city Irken, but we would kill you on sight, too, if you got so much as near to one of us.” Zim believed her every word, and he swallowed.

“What would happen, not that I plan it to happen, but what if I am healthy and strong again and .. I want to stay?” Zim seriously hoped the answer would only be a laugh, or a threat that they'd kill him, but no. Muri looked at him confused at first, then she smiled for the first time.

“There's a rite for that. I don't know if someone as small as you, no offense, could take it, though.”

“Why do you have a rite for that? I thought tribes were family members only and so on, at least that's what I learned back home.” Zim watched as the red eyes female huffed a breath.

“Oh Zim, you know nothing. Tribes are made of families, yes, but they're not related to one another. Mostly. There are other tribes out there whose members marry into other tribes and the likes. What you learned makes us sound like people who enjoy incest, which by the way is a big no-go in tribes.” Zim flushed a dark color and Muri smirked. “The rite is actually meant for those who are without a tribe at all, tall Irken who simply want to join to belong to something, exiles who search for a new tribe to be part of after being kicked out of their home tribe. There are many reasons to not have a tribe, but normally only tall Irken ask for the rite.”

Which made sense, Zim thought. Every Irken he encountered so far were giants compared to him, so of course they'd only take in tall ones. So he would never have to worry about that rite since it was useless to him, so he could instead focus on getting healthy again and be on his own again, back en route to his home.

“You could take the rite, too, though. But I don't think a prince would want to live a life where he has no privacy anymore.” Muri added and pulled Zim's attention back to her. “I do wonder, what would the other tribes do or say when we arrive in the winter camp and bring a small city Irken with us? One that is not with our tribe but just a guest?”

“Winter ca-”

“GET DOWN.” Yeeza suddenly hissed behind him before she tackled him to the dirty ground, tangling his kimono with his legs and holding him down. In front of him Muri had vanished so suddenly that he could have thought she turned invincible, but he saw a leaf falling from a nearby tree where she had climbed up into the relative hidden safety of the tree's crown. Klig was on the ground next to him, shushing his rising questions with one of her fingers to her lips when he looked at her, and maybe half a minute later he heard other voices talking. Male voices, for sure this time.

“It just cannot be, he couldn't have survived even one night in this damn forest, just why didn't we find a body until now?!” One of the voices said, and Zim knew who they were. Prison guards.

“Maybe those tribe assholes got him first. Maybe they've eaten him or something, I don't care. We just need evidence that this guy is dead, his father asks for it.”

His body froze. His father asked for.. evidence? Over him Yeeza put a hand on his head, moving it in a petting motion.

“You know what, let's just kill one of those Irken in the city and burn it, maybe he'll fall for it. I'm sick of this bush!”

“Me, too, but you know as well as I do that he will check their PAK, so we can't pull your plan. I just wonder why he wants his son dead.”

“Who knows, let's go back. I'm hungry.”

Their voices got quieter as they retreated, but Zim didn't care for them. His head was blank for the first time in so many years of his life, all that spun its rounds was a question.

What did he do that his father wanted him dead?

He realized in the corner of his mind that Yeeza had gotten up off him, pulling him upright, facing her and Klig. He saw their faces, Yeeza's for once in another emotion than boredom, he saw them both in worry. Klig was talking to him but her voice just came to him like a white noise, he saw her lips moving in slow motion. Yeeza shook him, he didn't feel it but he saw it in his vision, the motion causing his head to flop back and forth. He saw Klig calling to someone behind him, maybe Muri, but he didn't know or care in that moment.

Father, why?

-

She heard Klig talk to Zim in the most calmest she could manage, with Yeeza shaking him like a rag doll. He did not respond to them and he didn't look up when Muri called him when she stood behind him again.

“What do we do now?” Klig asked her, worry written in her face. “He looks like he has a mental breakdown that put his body into shock-mode!”

“You're the medic, you know what's best!” Yeeza hissed at her, earning a hiss in return.

“Calm down, both of you. Zim needs you grounded, while I'm going to follow these assholes. Maybe I can find out some more. Bring him back to the camp, get him back to reality, make him eat something. And for the love of god, do not tell Red about all of this!”


	6. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been the hardest chapter to write for me this far. I promise it will get better after this one.

He was walking. Klig was glad for that, walking always helped easing tension from a body. They weren't far from the camp anymore and Klig grasped Zim's hand in her's to steer him into the right direction. His body shook and his face was void of any emotion, but after what he'd heard it didn't come as a surprise.

Yeeza walked behind them, watching their backs for any other Vortians that may be stumbling through the woods. She was as silent as Klig, on edge and furious after what they learned, the medic could see it in her pink eyes. And while she looked as bored as always there was a glint in her eyes that just begged for a Vortian to cross their path. Klig knew this poor guy would not survive it.

Klig eyed Zim next to her. The arm attached to the hand she held was raised up comically, and it would have looked like a mother walking with her smeet to outsiders. Klig sighed and grasped his hand with more force, at which he winced slightly. She watched him as he looked to his hand, then up at her and it seemed like he finally, slowly came back to reality.

“What..” He started and Klig smiled softly at him.

“Easy, Zim. Take your time.”

“Glad you're back, buddy.” Yeeza said behind them and Zim turned to look at her, confusion meeting his eyes.

“Back? Was I gone? Wait, how did we get here?” Zim pulled his hand free from Klig's grasp and halted in his steps. He took in their surroundings, rubbing his eyes, then he looked at Klig like he'd seen her for the first time. “What happened?”

Klig looked to Yeeza who looked back at her with the same confusion in her eyes as she herself felt. The medic looked back at Zim who was waiting for her answer. “Do you really not remember?”

“Remember what? Last thing I know is you two collected fruit from a bush, that's it.”

The two females exchanged a worried look, with a confused Zim in the middle.

-

“I swear I can't tell you nothing, I don't know anything!”

“Tell that to your dead friend. This is your last chance to talk, before I rip your throat out with my own teeth!”

The Vortian whimpered pathetically as Muri held him against a tree by his only attached horn left. She'd cut off his arms and legs with her dagger, ripped out the other horn with her bare hands, he was basically nothing more but a living stump with a head, but he still refused to talk. Muri grew frustrated, she was covered in enemy blood from where it had spilled on her, she could even taste it in her mouth. 

Disgusting.

She spit on the ground to get rid of the taste, not that it helped, and eyed the Vortian again. She could see her reflection in the broken glass of his goggles and the terrified eyes that looked back at her.

“Please, please, I really don't know anything other than that the king wants to get rid of the prince and that we should make sure of that, but he escaped and the king got furious at us and ordered us to find him or any evidence that he's dead, please I have a family I don't know anything more!!”

“Think then, my friend.” Muri growled at the Vortian. “Are there any changes in the city that may explain anything?”

That seemed to get him thinking, even if he still looked at her in horror. “There.. there is, yes. The king has let a tribe into the castle, right after the prince escaped from prison.”

“A tribe? Which one?”

“I-I don't know, you all look the same to me!”

“Come on, give me a color scheme or something!”

“Blue! They were blue, okay?!”

“Were they really?”

“How should I know, I've only seen them from afar!”

This was a waste of time. The Vortian kept pleading for his live but Muri carelessly dropped him to the ground. He met the dirt with a dull thud and fell to his side, moving his only horn to somehow crawl forward. He just didn't get very far, as Muri buried her dagger in the back of his head, killing him instantly. She sighed as she pulled it back out to wipe it down with her dress.

So the only information she had gotten was about an ominous tribe the king had invited in, but that information could be as true as it could be false. But if it was true what he's said, Red would not be pleased.

Not at all. This wasn't just about Zim anymore, this was about all the other tribes out there. And there weren't many to choose from. Especially not if they had a blue color scheme.

-

“This doesn't make sense to me.”

“Me neither.”

“You're the PAK specialist, you have to know what this is!”

“Well, I don't, so stop shouting at me.”

Klig had looked at the reading she had gotten from Zim's pack for an hour now. The small Irken sat on a medical bed, finally eating something (after he had complained about it looking ugly and poisonous), careful not to cover himself in fruit juice as he bit into the fruit carefully. Next to her stood her brother, Krog, looking over the readings with her, equally as puzzled as she was.

Zim's PAK readings were out of the ordinary.

The wave of his neural activity was way to active, like his brain kept dreaming while he was still awake. The memory core seemed alright on the first look, but soon the siblings realized that something didn't add up. It was like there was an upgrade installed that made it hard for Zim to memorize certain events, or to pull up memories all together. It was his short term memory that shocked them both.

When they looked into the cache they saw what Zim had mentioned, Klig and Yeeza plucking fruit from the bushes, with Muri standing behind him, and suddenly the memory went black. After three seconds an error message blinked up, confusing them further, before the screen played the next memory, where Zim looked at his hand, tightly grasped in Klig's.

Something definitely didn't add up. That should not happen. There shouldn't be an error message in a PAK when it came to memories, there shouldn't be an error message in a PAK at all! Klig looked at her brother who seemed to be in thought. He turned to Zim with his fingers worrying his chin, looking him over. The prince didn't seem to notice, he munched away at another fruit that was way too big for his hands.

“Zim, has there ever been any.. tempering with your PAK that you know of?” Krog then asked and the prince shook his head no, since his mouth was too full to speak. Klig snorted at the image and turned back to the screen, replaying the memory again.

“Did they do anything to you in that prison?” Krog tried then, but still Zim shook his head no. “How long have you been there?” Zim swallowed his mouthful and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Two days, why?”

That shocked both of the siblings into stillness. That could not be right, Klig thought, the clothes he wore when they found him were way older than two days. Klig shared a look with her brother and they switched positions.

“Zim, honey, you sure as hell haven't been in there for just two days. It must have been longer than that.” Klig said, putting a hand on Zim's shoulder. The smaller one had bitten into his fruit again and just stared at her with a 'You are kidding, right?'-look, but Klig shook her head. “I need you to allow us to run a deep scan of your PAK, there is something that doesn't explain itself, is that okay with you?”

Zim swallowed again, looking frustrated. “But for a deep scan I need to be asleep, and you wanted me to eat, what do you want now?” Klig huffed a breath.

“Eat up first, then we will do the deep scan, alright?”

“Sure. These are good, by the way.” Zim pointed at the purple fruit in his hands. “They are as sweet as snacks, I like it.”

“They come from a rival tribe of ours, so don't praise them too much when Red is near, yes?” Zim saluted shortly, then continued to devour the fruit. Klig looked at her brother, who was still looking over the readings. He waved for her to come closer and leaned in to whisper to her.

“This will be a very, VERY deep scan, he will be out for a few hours if we're good at finding something. How do you want to explain that to our leader?”

“We don't have a choice. Whatever is wrong with his PAK is wrong with his health and it is my job to cure my patients from their illness. We need to do it, I will inform Muri about it so she can help us with distracting our leader.”

“Do it quick, he will be sated soon and I want to start as quickly as possible. We will need some time to even scan his PAK fully to find any anomaly.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Klig waved her brother off and looked at the still eating Zim one last time before she made her way out of the tent.

-

Muri's tent was far off from the busy part of the camp since the red eyed female didn't like the trouble that came with having too many neighbors. Klig also knew that she cherished the little privacy one could get in a tribe, so she lived willingly door to door with the forest. A zombie one could kill easily, a nagging old hag from her tribe not. 

Klig knew that the tent was currently occupied by its owner when she saw the pile of clothes drenched in blood next to its entrance. So Muri had rid them of these two Vortians, a good thing. Klig stood in front of the curtains and coughed loudly, attracting the attention of the female inside.

“Come in.” She heard Muri say in a muffled voice and the medic entered, shielding her eyes from the view she would surely be getting if she didn't. 

“I'm dressed, so take your hands down.” Muri snickered and Klig huffed a breath, finally looking at her friend.

“Excuse me for taking precautions, I'm not the one who hates being seen when naked.”

“Someone's getting sassy lately.” Muri murmured and turned to fold the clothes she'd laid out on her unused bed. “Is Zim alright?”

“Yeah, that's actually why I came to you. I need you to make sure Red doesn't bother me and Krog for the next 6 hours.” Klig said sheepishly, fully expecting the unbelieving look she got from Muri.

“What the- 6 hours? What do you expect me to do with him for 6 hours?!”

“I don't know, think of something! We encountered something strange when we scanned Zim's PAK and we need a deep scan to find the problem, and a deep scan takes some time to even bring forth any results, so we really need your help with that.” Klig sounded crazy to her own ears and she was well aware that she wanted something from her friend that was kind of complicated. Red wasn't dumb and he saw through lies fairly quickly, plus he would sooner or later not listen to Muri anymore and simply search for Zim until he would find him. And he would find him quickly since he could smell him pretty good.

“You do realize that you sound kind of ridiculous, right?” Muri said and crossed her arms over the small of her back, standing straight to eye Klig. “And what exactly did you find? A deep scan sounds like it must be something critical.”

“We don't know, but one thing's for sure, there shouldn't be an error message in a PAK.” The medic said, shuffling her feet when Muri looked at her like she'd grown two heads.

“An error message?” She parroted and Klig just nodded.

“Like I said, we need that deep scan to find something that explains it. Only then I can tell you more. And depending on what we may find we need to talk to Red, too.”

“We need to talk to him either way, one of those idiot Vortians told me something strange. So you better get going with your scan, the faster we get closure the better.”

-

Zim was lying on his front on the medical bed, eyes closed and his head nestled onto his arms. He was fast asleep and lightly purring which put a smile on Klig's face. Her brother had connected Zim's pack to the scanner and started the deep scan, eyes fixed to the screen in rapt attention.

During a deep scan the PAK would be laid out for everyone there the see, from the smallest piece of metal up to the best hidden secret, there was simply nothing there that could be hidden. Well, if the PAK was working normally, that is. 

Zim's PAK was far from normal from what they'd seen before, and the first minutes of the deep scan only proofed this. There was corrupted data everywhere, making the screen flicker for a few seconds until Krog secured the firewalls of the scanner to keep it from burning out.

“How can he even be alive? I've never seen such a .. thoroughly destroyed PAK..” Krog murmured in horror next to his sister, who had put her hands over her mouth in shock, staring at the screen in absolute disbelieve. “It's like his PAK has been overridden a thousand times without the data stored in it being erased beforehand. There's way to much data in there, how is it possible that the PAK hasn't shut itself down by now?”

“Survival instinct or something?” Klig said unsure. She knew that no amount of whatever instinct could explain how Zim was still alive and could use his body correctly and speak normally. With that much bad data in his PAK he should not be able to do anything anymore other than sit in a corner and salivate a waterfall while being unconscious. 

The screen flickered again and Krog hissed a curse. Rattling the screen and the cables connecting the prince to the scanner he tried to stop the flickering, but to no avail. The screen gave out and both of the siblings screamed a 'NO!' in response, waving their arms over their heads in panic. Klig ran around her brother and Zim, pulling on her antennae while screeching 'We broke him!', while Krog took a steadying breath and rattled the cables again. 

The screen had just went black but it didn't spark yet so it was still functional. Meaning Zim's PAK was the problem. Krog looked at the small Irken lying on the bed, sleeping like nothing in the world could bother him, with his strange PAK sitting on his upper back looking perfectly fine. 

“Ready and set, doc.”

Klig stopped her running as Krog squeaked in surprise, turning around again to eye the screen that had once again flickered to life with what seemed to be a record of something. His sister came to stand next to him, taking out a recorder from her PAK to film the screen. 

There was a Vortian scientist, from the looks of it, who was setting up the camera they were seeing through right now, which was strange. How could they set a camera to a-

“Day one of experiment 'defective unit zero-three-alpha'. Test subject used for experiment: Prince Zim of Irk. Test subject is connected to a broken control brain unit to enable a connection with its memory banks, as seen behind me.”

True to his words there he was, Zim, hanging from the ceiling by thick cables connected with his PAK. His eyes were open wide but he didn't seem to be aware of what was happening, if he was even awake at all. But why did they see the recording of that camera from Zim's PAK memories if the camera had never been connected to him in the first place?

“For now we have established a link from the subjects PAK to the broken brain, but so far no data transfer has taken place. Subject is sedated and unresponsive in body, PAK is energized and ready. Planned time for this experiment: 1095 days or three years, at max. Depends on the vital status of the subject.”

“Three fucking years?” Krog stared at the screen in utter disbelieve and then turned to his sister. “Please tell me you heard the same as I did.”

“I did, yes..” Klig answered, suddenly feeling way too uncomfortable in her own skin. “Do you think they really left him connected to that brain for so long? He would have never survived any of this..”

“Who knows, everything is possible..”

“Experiment takes places on the king's orders. Goal of experiment: Making prince Zim a superior ruler with collected knowledge of a control brain, the last one in existence since their appearance 1030 years ago, making him in turn the ultimate life form. If the experiment fails we are to deactivate his PAK permanently and destroy the control brain.”

“That certainly explains why his PAK is so full of damaged data. If they succeeded in transferring every piece of data into Zim's PAK from a broken control brain, that is.” Krog looked at Zim who had begun to snore softly. “Poor guy..”

“Note to video log number one: The prince's PAK got modified before the beginning of experiment. The upgrade contains the automatic order to his PAK to destroy every memory that considers his father, the king, to leave no evidence that leads back to his majesty, after the beginning of the experiment. May the gods be with the prince to surviving this procedure.”

The scientist looked guilty behind his heavy lab goggles, and he did pause his ministrations to pray for Zim. After three minutes he coughed a breath and turned to look at he prince.

“Forgive me... Now commencing data transfer, in three.. two.. one..” He pushed something off screen and suddenly sparks flew where the cables connected Zim to the brain, letting his body spasm violently before he started to scream in agony. The scientist looked positively horrified at what was happening, turning to the camera once more. “I repeat, the subject is sedated by the strongest drugs we have at our disposal, so his reaction might be one of instinct.”

“STOP IT, IT'S HURTING SO MUCH!” Zim suddenly screamed behind him and the scientist looked at him, his reaction to this hidden to the two onlookers. “PLEASE, THE PAIN, STOP IT, I BEG YOU!” 

And then the screen fizzled heavily and turned black all of a sudden, leaving behind two stunned and horrified Irken, with Klig actually crying heavy tears next to her brother. Krog pushed some buttons on the keyboard to replay the memory or get it somehow to start again so they could see what happened next, but nothing worked. Next to them something started to smoke and Krog turned in time to see that the scanner cables had started to burn. He shoved his sister out of the way with too much force, leaving her falling to the ground hard. He stumbled over to Zim, pulling on the cables still connected to his PAK to get them loose and off him, burning his hands with the hot metal in the process. He managed to get them from his PAK in the last second, throwing them to the side to grab Zim and pull him off the bed.

Klig had gotten a fire extinguisher from the only closet she had in the medical tent, spraying the foam load onto the scanner and everything near it till the fire was out. She was breathing heavily in her panic and looked to her brother, checking him over for injuries, noting his bloody hands and their burned flesh where he held Zim close to his body.

“Are you alright, aside from the burns?” She asked and Krog nodded, looking down at the sleeping form in his arms.

“I am surprised this didn't happen sooner, to be honest. We need new equipment now, though.” He tried to joke to lighten the mood, but his sister was having none of that.

Especially after they both finally realized that Red had joined them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the scientist has said should have been in a cursive setting, but I am to lazy to edit it with the plain text. ^^"


	7. Too much info

“How long have you been standing there?” Klig breathed when she eyed her leader, Red's ruby eyes looking around the tent without giving anything away what he could be thinking.

“I saw smoke and came to help, even if Muri tried to keep me from doing so.” He said way too calmly to be honest about it, finally grazing the medic with his gaze. “I believe I deserve an explanation. From ALL OF YOU.” He said it too loud, so he must've known that Muri was standing on the other side of the entrance. Klig swallowed heavily, looking to her brother for comfort.

“I need to look after Krog's wounds first, my leader..” She murmured, and Red only nodded in answer.

“My tent, all of you, in half an hour. And don't even think about not coming, you know the consequences if you do.” The leader growled the last part before he swiftly turned and walked out of the tent. Klig heard him say something to Muri outside, but it was too quiet for her to catch it. On the ground her brother sighed and stood up, walking to place the still sleeping prince on one of the other two medical beds.

“This could get ugly. Have you recorded all of what we saw?”

“Yes..”

“We'll show it to him. We'll wait and see what he has to say about it. Now stop panicking and nurse my wounds, sis.” He held up his hurting hands for emphasis. Klig tried a little smile but it looked way too crooked for her brother. He didn't comment on it though.

-

They all stood in front of him while he sat on his bed, his arms and legs crossed and waiting for someone to start explaining. He thought of his adopted sister to start, but she didn't, shuffling her feet over the ground like he would always do when he was nervous to his very core. Left of hers stood Yeeza, this time not munching on something like he knew her to do, and to her right stood Klig and Krog, the male the only one who looked calm where his sister fidgeted from antennae to toes. They had left Zim in the medical tent since he wasn't to wake up for the next two hours, as the medic had explained to him.

“Well?” He prompted, looking into all their faces one after another. The girls stayed silent, so he looked to Krog. “Why a deep scan on a strangers PAK? We may help him until he's good to go again, but this doesn't exactly count as 'helping' last time I checked. Do you even know what Spork is gonna do to me once he catches wind of all this?”

Krog coughed shortly and then poked his sister in her side, prompting her to get a tablet out of her PAK. She handed it to Red who took it, looking at her curiously. “What is this, Klig?”

“The answer to the deep scan. But we should tell you something first, right Muri?” The medic looked at her red eyed friend, who froze curtly before shaking her head, steadying herself.

“When we were in the forest today we encountered Vortians.” She began, and Red raised his antennae in alarm. She raised her hand for him to wait before he spoke. “We managed to hide from them in time, they didn't see us. They were talking about the kings order, to find the dead body of Zim or any evidence that ensured his death. They couldn't find anything of course, so they left again.”

“I have a feeling this isn't how it ended.” Red murmured and Muri nodded. Klig continued for her.

“Zim heard everything these two said, and he went into a shock. He didn't respond to us talking to him, he didn't even blink when Yeeza shook the life out of his body.”

“That's right.” Yeeza added from the side lines, and Muri shushed her.

“We split up, Muri went after the Vortians to gather any information they had, and Yeeza and I took Zim back to the camp. He came back to his senses before we were back home, and he asked how he got there with us. He didn't remember anything of what had happened before he went into shock, so I talked with Krog if we should run a scan.”

“Which you did.”

“Yes. It was a normal scan at first, but we quickly realized that something didn't add up at all, the memory of what we heard from the Vortians wasn't in his short term memory cache anymore, like it had been erased instantly. So we ran a deep scan, and what I recorded on my tablet is the result. After that the scanner catched fire and we had to separate Zim from the scanner.”

“It catched fire? Aren't these things supposed to be reliable?” Yeeza asked and earned a glare from Krog as well as Klig.

“His PAK is so full of bad data that he shouldn't even be alive at all! It was a wonder the scanner didn't malfunction when we connected him to it in the first place!” Krog shouted and Klig hurried to calm him down again.

Red looked the other Irken over two times, checking their faces for any lie, but there was none.

“If you watch it, can we watch, too? I'm worried for Zim.” Muri suddenly asked next him and he got startled shortly. Two of four already knew what was on that tablet, so he thought it would be alright if he showed the other two while he himself watched.

But if he expected anything before, it certainly was not what he was seeing then.

The strange scientist, the scary brain on the ceiling, and little Zim hanging from it.. They were all listening intently to what the scientist was saying, but no one counted on Zim's agonized screams that suddenly erupted from his body. His pleas to make it stop shattered something inside Red, and next to him the females gasped in a pained breath at the sight. And then it was all over and the camera swung to the left to record the start of the fire.

Red lowered the tablet to his lap and rubbed both of his eyes, catching his breath. To call this a wild ride would be an understatement, he felt drained of all feelings in this moment. Yeeza had taken a stand again, walking away from him and out of the tent, puking when she was outside fully. At least it sounded like it. Muri had laid her head on his shoulder, whimpering while she pet Red's PAK, whispering something he didn't understand.

“What are we gonna do now, Red?” Klig asked when she retrieved her tablet from his lap, tucking it under her arm and looking at him. “We can't just.. do nothing.”

“I don't know..” Red said in earnest, searching her face for an answer. “If I understood correctly, even if we told him or showed him this video, he would forget it in an instant, right?”

“That's my understanding of it.” Klig said, looking sadly over to his occupied shoulder, where Muri had yet to make a move. “I would have suggested that we try to repair his PAK, but I doubt that any equipment we have left would be strong enough for that.”

“I doubt that even the prison equipment has been strong enough for that. Remember that explosion we had heard around the time he said he had fled?” Krog threw in, and nearly all eyes landed on him. “The scientist said that the experiment was set to last for 3 years straight, what if our little Zim had had enough suddenly and just blew the place? His PAK is a strange one that got modified to hold all data of a control brain, how do we know he isn't able to do something like that?”

Red remembered the ground shaking boom, it had send the smeets that were playing outside straight into his tent and under his bed in search for cover. Well, wasn't that a coincidence.

“That does not solve our main problem.” Muri suddenly said next to him, raising to sit straight again while wiping her eyes. “What are we going to tell him about his father, he can't go back to his old life or he will die.”

“Well, we have one option, but it is one that takes lots of time.” Klig said and all eyes were on her, Red's especially. “We cannot let him go until he is healthy enough again, right? This process can take a while, and we are going to move in the next two weeks either way, so we will have to take him with us, right?”

Red understood where this was going. “Tell me more, Klig.”

-

Zim awoke to the smell of something burning. The smell was so strong that he thought he died in that scan and had gone to hell, but his surroundings when he opened his eyes told him otherwise. He did not freak out when he saw the white walls of the medical tent this time, but instead chose to sit up slowly and rub his antennae that had gotten tangled somehow. Then he realized that he wasn't in the bed anymore that he had been in before. That's when he saw the burns that climbed up the walls of the tent where the scanner hung from the ceiling, well, where it HAD hung. There was only a crumbling pile of metal left where it had been, along with the smoking remains of the screen they had set up.

What the hell?

Klig and her brother weren't in the tent anymore, so Zim was alone with the scenery in front of him. He shook his head and jumped from the bed, catching himself better than the first time, and made his way out of the tent in search for the two Irken.

He was met by an empty fire place. When he looked into the sky he realized that the sun had begun to set, as the colors changed their hue gradually into a beautiful orange and red. Zim looked around himself again, noting that the curtains to the tribe leader's tent were drawn open. Having no other place to go he began to walk there, only to hear hushed whispers from inside. They stopped once he stood in the entry way, not seeing anyone yet. 

“Hello?” He called while he started to walk inside, not waiting on someone to call him in first.

“Never heard of knocking?” He heard an answering growl coming from the bed, where he saw Red with – what was her name again? The red eyed female from before. They sat there and stared at him like he just interrupted something important, and Zim realized that he could have walked in on something way more intimate. He blushed heavily and turned around, halting in his steps while covering his eyes.

“I am sorry if I interrupted you! I just didn't know where else to go!” The prince heard laughter behind him and turned to look at them again, Red was whispering something to the female who snickered in answer. Oho, so now he was a joke to them, huh?

“Sorry, Zim.” Red wheezed before he caught himself. “It's just a long while back that someone thought they 'interrupted' us two doing anything. It's funny, really.”

“Well, excuse me, but you two look like you're made for each other.” Zim murmured, ashamed. They did look like the perfect pair, now that he saw them both at the same time. Red with his leader body and unfairly attractive face and the female with a perfect body herself while being unnaturally beautiful. He sounded like a lovesick weirdo to his own brain, but those were the facts.

“We may look like it, but I wouldn't want to have something with my brother even if he was the last male alive, trust me.” The female – Muri, right?! - laughed lightly, and Zim grew curious.

“You are siblings? You don't look alike that much.”

“Adopted siblings.” Red answered and Zim nodded in understanding. That explained why this Muri was second in command, if he remembered correctly. His thoughts felt foggy to him, like he was missing something, but he had experienced that particular feeling way too often before to be concerned about it anymore. He just didn't know why, though.

“I would like to know more about this, but I do have to ask where everyone went. Last time I was awake I have been with Klig and her brother, but now they are gone and the tent is half burned.” Zim asked then and the other two shared looks with each other. Red answered first.

“The equipment gave out and started to burn before they could start the scan. It has been old to begin with, so it wasn't that much of a surprise. They are going trough our spare parts we keep away from the camp to find something they can save it with.” The leader said and smiled at Zim, while Muri looked at Zim in something akin to worry. “BUT, since you're here now, we wanted to talk to you about something, too. Come and sit with us.” Red patted the space next to him, and Zim followed his instruction. He heard the leader snicker when he had to climb up the bed that was a bit higher as Zim was tall. He huffed a breath when he was finally sitting next to Red, trying not to purr at the softness of the material under him.

What he would give for a bed like this! Not even the one he owned back in the castle was as comfortable as this one!

“Okay, Zim. We have talked about you staying with us until you're healthy again, and we realized something that we should tell you.” Red started and nudged his sister.

“Yeah, right. Do you remember what I said about the winter camp?” Zim thought for a moment.

“I do, I think. You said you were moving there soon.”

Muri nodded. “That's right. Well, the thing is..”

“We're moving there in about two weeks. Maybe in a week and a half, depending when the hunters are coming back.” Red shot in and Zim raised a non existent eyebrow.

“Okay, good for you, but does that have to do with me?”

The two taller ones were silent for a short while, before Muri spoke again. “You'll have to come with us, Zim. Your health is not on the status where Klig would call you 'good to go again' and as the code demands we cannot let you go until that's the case.”

“You're joking, right? I-.. I cannot come with you! I have to go back to the city, to the castle, my father has to be sick with worry by now!” Zim screamed enraged, and the siblings winced at the volume. They had to be joking, right?! He could not stay with them, he had to get back home, back to his real life, not whatever this was! Red didn't look like he would give him much of a choice, though. His ruby eyes had narrowed slightly.

“Our ethics are holy to us. For you to disrespect them is for you to disrespect our tribe, and you don't want to go there, short stuff.”

“It's not that I don't respect them, really! But I don't belong with you, and you know it! Maybe I'll be better before you start to move and you-”

“Yeah, no, stop right there.” Red shushed the prince with a finger to Zim's lips. “The 'move' is the transportation of our camp stuff, meaning tents, furniture, and the likes. We actually start to travel in three or four days, the rest comes after us.”

“Ffaf?!” Zim's next cry got muffled by Red's finger.

“We count on the hunters to return the day after tomorrow, and when they do we will start preparing the meat and other foods and take that with us while we travel.” Muri added, at least looking apologetic to Zim, which the leader lacked completely now. If anything he looked happy about it. While his lips were set in a grim line his eyes betrayed him and Zim began to shake from irritation. He grabbed the hand next to his face and pushed it back to his owner.

“You can't make me stay or come with you! I'm out of here!” He jumped from the bed and broke into a sprint as soon as his feet hit the floor, but he was pinned down not two seconds later when a heavy weight threw him face first to the floor. He huffed and wheezed as the air was squeezed out of his lungs, making him flail under the body on top of him.

“LET GO!!” He roared with the last air he had in him, but nothing happened. He heard a chuckle over him and then suddenly he felt breath on his right antennae, making him freeze on the spot.

“No can do, I'm sorry, my prince.” Red nearly purred to him. “You have to come with us, whether you like it or not. And be assured, we will tie you down and lock you up for that if we have to.”

“We only want the best for you, Zim. Even if my brother is currently sitting on you like you're a pillow for his ungrateful butt.” Muri said from the sidelines. “Get off him, you big baby.”

“Only if he promises to behave and stay.” Red said, grazing Zim's antennae with his breath again, making the smaller Irken shiver slightly.

“I.. do..” Zim wheezed and Red got off him immediately. The prince took a big breath once his lungs weren't squeezed anymore and sat up, putting a hand on his chest to feel the rise and fall of his own upper body's breathing. Red squatted next to him and looked him up and down.

“If it calms you down a bit, Muri made the offer to let you sleep with her in her tent. There you won't just get the floor, she's way too soft in those matters.” He threw a look over his shoulders at the female who scoffed at him.

“It's no use for him to proof himself worthy of a bed or anything if he's not healthy, doofus. So he should get a bed until he can actually work for one, don't you agree?”

Zim saw the leader calculating shortly before he just sighed. “Makes sense.”

-

Zim was stunned when they exited the leaders tent after a curt 'good night', with the smaller Irken now pissed at Red while Muri had pulled on her brother's good antennae to reprimand him to never throw himself on a smaller person like that ever again, 'or I will throw my daggers at you', as she had threatened.

Zim already liked her way more than the leader, not that he would tell her.

“Normally there would be a feast every night, where the whole tribe comes together and just enjoys the time spent together while eating. But since our food reserves reached their limit there is no need for a feast right now.” Muri had explained to him when Zim had asked where everyone was. The smaller one thought of the snacks the leader had given to him, now forgotten in his tent where he had left them that morning. He remembered that he ate those fruits before the gone wrong scan and secretly wondered why his stomach wasn't rebelling inside him.

They were walking good 5 minutes before they arrived at a lone tent on the outskirts of the camp. Zim looked around and saw a pile of bloody fabrics near the tent.

“What happened with those?” Zim asked curiously, but Muri gave him no answer. She just parted the curtains and motioned for Zim to enter her tent, which he did after he looked around for the last time. 

The inside of the females tent wasn't that much different from Red's, aside from the fact that it was smaller in space. There was nothing cluttering around and she had less furniture, but it was still as cozy as the leader's. If not more, since there was no free ground to be seen under the many furs on the ground.

“Make yourself at home, I forgot to get something.” Muri said suddenly and vanished through the curtains, leaving Zim alone in her tent. The prince sniffed the air around him and checked the tent some more, noting that there was just one bed, not nearly as big as Red's in the far corner of the place, overhung by something that Zim would call an insect net. Did the female think of him to be sleeping in her bed with her? Or did she go to get something he could use as a bed?

Muri came back not five minutes later, carrying a basket big enough to fit Zim in it, which she put down on the ground. “This has to last both of us for 2 days, minimum, so let's try to rationalize really good, yes?” Zim raised the cloth laid over the basket and spotted a variety of fruits inside, this time not doubling over when he saw what they looked like. There were some new fruit in it, too, and Zim peeked at Muri.

“The ones I don't know, can I eat them? Did Klig say it's good or something?”

“Actually, I.. don't know. Just eat the ones you're familiar with and I'll eat the rest. Problem solved.” The red eyed female got up from her crouch and got to her bed, standing next to it with her hands put on her hips. She looked at Zim over her shoulder, the prince still debating if he should eat something or if he should wait for the next day. “There's not something like a spare guest bed in this tribe, the closest coming to that are the medical beds, but Klig will kill us if we take one of them away from her. I hope you are alright with sharing the bed with a female.”

Zim flushed a dark green at that. “O-of course! You really help me a lot, thank you..”

“Don't mention it. Once you are back on your feet you can repay me.” Muri grinned at the smaller one and Zim raised his antennae.

“And how?”

“I will think of something. But for now let's go to sleep, I am tired.” She yawned to underline her statement and Zim agreed with her non verbally. While he had been sleeping during the day he certainly felt drained of his energy, now that it got mentioned. He looked down at himself, realizing that he still wore that kimono thing.

“How long will Helk work on my outfit?” He asked, looking up at the tall female that had gone to stand on the other side of the bed, taking off her scarf. Zim saw then that she had a scar similar to Red's on her neck and he suddenly had more questions than before.

“Maybe he's finished tomorrow. Since you're so small your clothes are going to be, well, small, and Helk has BIG hands. Normally he would only have needed two hours when sewing for a tribe Irken.” Muri pulled on her dress to pull it upwards, leaving Zim to gasp and look away to leave her some privacy. “Just a heads up, I sleep naked. Do you have a problem with that?”

Little late for that info, huh? Zim felt warmth built in his whole body and he wondered how he should survive this night if he had never had company in his bed before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, Red has a sister in this story. xD For anyone wondering, his usual co-leader will make his appearance in this story, too, just somehow different.. psssst spoiler spoiler.
> 
> The next chapter will mark the start of Zim's life with the tribe and I am so pumped for this! I hope you're ready for it. :D


	8. Once a prince, always a prince?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://alien-dib.tumblr.com/post/188503338025/go-read-hunting-for-you-the-author-is-ncfy666
> 
> Please, just check it out. I am legit still crying over it, this is so beautiful TT_TT Btw, if you want to hit me up with questions or just to chat, feel free to do so on my tumblr -> ncfy666 (still need to figure out why I can't be tagged or tag anything I post so it shows up in the search..) 
> 
> Anyhow, this is my personal favorite chapter this far and I hope you like it, too! 
> 
> Enjoy! :)

The next time Zim awoke he was warm and comfy, nothing like when he had woken up yesterday. The bed he was lying in was so soft and plush that he just wanted to sink back into the foam and go back to sleep.

But then he realized that he was surrounded by arms and he opened his eyes in alarm.

The way he was lying he faced the entrance and those arms were attached to whoever was hugging him from behind. Zim felt heat creep into his cheeks when he remembered who he shared the bed with and that he had taken off his clothing before going to sleep, after the female had explained to him that she was kidding about the 'naked' sleeping. She did wear something, but that only covered up where it needed covering the most, so she was halfway naked. At least Zim wore something akin to underwear, so they were equally clothed.

That didn't mean that he didn't feel the skin of hers on his and he froze. Why did she do that? He heard light snoring behind him and turned slightly to look at Muri, who slept just like her brother, without a care in the world. But Red at least didn't use him as a stuffed toy in his sleep.

Zim turned back to look at the curtains over the entrance and he tried to slither his way out of Muri's arms. The female just would have none of that and tightened her grip around the prince, nuzzling the top of his head while purring lightly. Zim felt his whole body heat up at that and he began to squirm, startling the female into waking up. He froze again when he looked up and into her red eyes, which looked at him first sleepily before they widened in realization. She quickly let go of him and sat up and away from him, a deep blush in her face.

“I am so sorry!”, she said before she stumbled out of bed and out of the curtains hanging over it. Zim lied there dumbfounded for a moment before he too sat up, trying to see though the curtains.

“Good morning to you, too.” He tried to joke since he couldn't see the female anymore and he moved to the edge of the bed to jump from it.

“Not a word, to anyone.” Muri hissed at Zim when he saw her the next time. Zim was munching on some fruit back in her tent when she had come back from wherever she had gone. She carried a bag with her that she handed him and Zim took it from her with a questioning gaze. “With greetings from Helk.” She had said before reaching into the basket to grab a fruit with a blue color.

Zim opened the bag and spotted fabrics. He took them out of it and counted. Helk had provided him with three tunics, two strange looking leggins and a coat with fur on it, plus some underwear. Zim did wonder about something missing though, and he looked at the female who ate in silence while sitting on her bed.

“Don't tribe folks wear gloves or boots? Or anything that resembles these things?” 

Muri looked at him with a smile on her face. “No, we don't. We are one with the nature around us and we need to feel it living, so nothing on our hands and feet unless we really need it. Like in extreme heat or cold, for example.” She took another bite or her fruit. “Since you are living with us for the time being you will be treated the same as one of our own, meaning no gloves or boots for you.”

Zim grew rigid at that. “But what about my sensitive skin?! I will get blisters and ugly cornea on them!” He raised one of his feet to show it to the female. “Look, I already have some on my feet!” 

Muri laughed at him for that, before she raised one of her own feet to show it to Zim. The prince grew confused when he saw the even skin on it. “As the young prince can see, there are no such things on the feet of one of the people who never wore anything there except when needed.” She narrated in a joking tone, earning a glare from Zim.

“You are born and raised like this, I always had boots on my feet since I've been a smeet!”

“Zim, calm down.” Muri then said and ate the last of her fruit. “You will get used to it, but you have to try it before you cry about it. Also, you have been on naked feet yesterday, for the whole day, so come on.” 

Zim said nothing in return and eyed the clothing he had gotten. Better put it on, he thought and stood up. He took off the kimono and reached for a tunic and a leggins, putting them on. They fit like a glove and he smiled a bit at the familiar feeling of formfitting clothes. He eyed the coat still lying on the floor. “What's that for?”

“Winter camp. You will need it, trust me.” Muri said while she watched him. “I forgot to tell you something important, by the way.”

“What is it?” Zim asked, suddenly on edge. 

“No one in this tribe works for free, but we don't pay each other with monies.” Zim felt his non existent neck hair stand. “We repay each other by doing something of equal worth. Helk wants you to help him with something in payment for your clothes.” Muri looked unfazed by Zim's suddenly changing face, from on edge to irritated.

“And what does he want me to do? Just a heads up, I have never worked in my life since I was trained to be a ruler one day, not a drone.”

“What's a drone?” Muri asked with her head cocked slightly and Zim realized belatedly that if he explained that to her she would take it the wrong way. The 'You are technically a drone'-way.

“.. Never mind. So what do I have to to?”

-

Zim wanted to run and hide when he was standing in front of the thing Helk needed help with.

There was a huge animal, standing on 8 legs, gigantic in size and looking absolutely frightening. “This is what we call an 'equine companion'. They travel with us when we go to the winter camp, they carry either our stuff or ourselves, depending on what needs the carrying more.” Muri explained to him in a calm tone where she stood next to him in front of the animal. “They are a pretty chill species and not that easy to anger, so this should be easy for you.”

“How should I wash this thing of I can't even reach past its knees?” Zim asked incredulous and the female chuckled. She turned to go to another, smaller tent to rummage through it and came back with a stool that had seen better days before. She placed it next to Zim and the prince looked up at her shortly before sighing and taking the stool from her. 

The animal was bound by a rope to a tree and stood there in stillness, aside from the huffing it did when it saw Zim in its periphery. He didn't seem to bother the creature as it turned its head away and down to chew on some grass. He put the stool next to the massive neck the animal had and turned to look at Muri once more, who held a bucket filled with soapy water and a broom in her hands. She placed the bucket on the ground next to him and handed him the broom. “Less talking, more working.” She said and turned to leave.

“Wait, you leave me alone with this thing?” Zim screeched and the female looked at him over her shoulder.

“Of course. This is just washing, it is the easiest thing to do, you can make it.” With that she left and Zim swallowed when he looked at the beast again. It still chewed on its grass and seemed to be totally harmless, but Zim did not trust things he didn't know. He looked into the bucket and took the sponge that had been swimming in there. He needed to start somewhere, right? 

He stared at the long, heavily muscled legs of the creature and took a deep breath, steeling himself before he got nearer to the animal. He placed the sponge on the leg fur and waited for any reaction from the beast, but none came. So he got to work, slowly washing its left legs with utmost care. By the time he had finished the left row of legs he was drenched in dirt water from the sponge and he was pissed. This thing was so huge, it would take hours to get it done! But no use in whining.

When he had finished the right row of legs he was exhausted and he sat down on the stool for a break. He looked up at the part of the animal he had yet to wash, including its neck and head, its sides and its back. Zim huffed a breath and looked to where the head of the beast should be and realized that it was watching him. He froze under its gaze shortly, then it shook its head and turned away again.

That has been creepy.

Zim stood on the stool after his break, washing the sides of the animal with the broom he had drenched in water before. It just didn't help him anything since he was still too short to reach the back with the broom and he groaned deeply. “Great, just great! Let the short one wash the big animal, he can do it, he just can't reach anywhere he needs to wash at all!” He threw the broom away in his frustration and kicked the stool after jumping off of it, not realizing that the animal was watching him again. When he did he froze again, locking eyes with the beast, only to let out a high scream when it got so near to him with its head that it was way too close for Zim's liking. Zim shut his eyes in panic, only to open them again when he felt his feet connect to something warm and plushy.

The animal had bitten into his clothes near his neck and lifted him onto its own back, huffing softly when it had set him down onto it. Zim stared at it disbelieving till the animal let out a sound and went to chew grass again. The prince sat there on its back, not moving, only watching the longer fur that grew out of its neck move around while it chewed. He looked down onto the ground, nearly loosing his footing when he saw how high up in the air he was.

“Now, would you look at that.”

Zim turned when he heard the familiar voice of Red, seeing the leader stand casually a few feet away from him and the beast. “What is it? Why did it do that?” He asked then, not knowing what else to do, since he didn't have anything with him so continue washing the animal.

“He seems to like you, that's why he did it. He helps you helping him, you know.” Red explained and he got closer, greeting the animal with a hand to its nostrils before scratching along its massive scalp. “His name is Cupcake. Kind of fitting, isn't it?”

“Cupcake? Like the snack?” Red nodded his head yes and Zim huffed a laugh. “I would have named him something else, like Bone Crusher or something.”

Red grinned at him for that before he bowed down to get the sponge Zim needed for his work. He handed it to the shorter one and Zim took it with a thankful nod, shivering slightly when he lightly grazed Reds hand. He hoped the taller one didn't notice, though. As Zim got back to work, washing the massive back under him, Red continued to pet Cupcake, cooing at him like the big animal was nothing more than a simple house pet.

“Do you know why Helk wanted you to help him with this?” The leader then suddenly asked and Zim halted in his movements. He hadn't thought about this at all.

“No. Muri has told me that work gets paid with equal work, but I don't think that sewing clothes equals to this.” He motioned to the whole situation at hand. Red looked at him strangely.

“You have seen him, yes?” Zim nodded. “Well, you should have seen his hands after he was finished with your clothes. Since you are so small he had to work a lot more delicately and he needed hours to sew something. His hands are covered in needle stitches over and over now.” Red eyed his own hands at this. “He gave it his all, and now you are giving your all, too, doing something you are actually way to short for, so it does equal what he did for you.”

To Zim's ears the explanation made total sense. That didn't change the fact that he was now finished with Cupcake's back and needed to get down somehow. He doubted that jumping would do him any favors and he looked around for something to jump onto. The stool was the only thing he could have used for this, but it had already been wobbly when he had stood on it, so he scratched that option, too. When he saw to the leader again he met his ruby eyes, watching him before turning away curtly.

Was that a blush on Red's face? No, it couldn't be.

“I could use some help getting down again.” Zim then murmured, ashamed that he needed help for something as simple as that.

“Well, if you pet Cupcake he would help you, I'm sure of that.” Red actually winked at him with a chuckle and Zim blew an irritated huff. “I'm joking. I'll help you.” Red got around to Cupcake's side and held up his arms for Zim to grab, which the prince did after a few seconds of pondering if jumping would maybe save his dignity. Red grabbed him under his armpits and pulled him down from the animal, softly setting him back on the ground. “There you go. I have a feeling that you will be best friends with a ladder while you're with us. We need to built one first, though.”

“You don't have even one?” Zim asked genuinely curious and the leader shook his head no. “You are strange people.. but thank you for you help.” Zim felt his cheeks grow hot of embarrassment. He did a lot of thanking the last days.

“You still need to wash his head and neck. Need help with that, too?” Red then asked as Zim wrung out the sponge in the bucket. He growled silently.

“No, I can do that on my own. Plus, this is payment for the clothes I am wearing, so I have do it alone.” 

Zim didn't see Red smile warmly at that.

-

“This water hurts so much, why is it hurting me? It burns my skin!” Zim cried when he got showered by cold water straight from a small lake. He sat in some strange wooden bath tub, shivering when the water left him even colder than he'd been before. Plus, the burning was irritating as hell, he could have sworn there had been steam rising from his skin where it had touched him. Which was everywhere by now.

“Stop whining, this is just water to get you clean again. Or do you want to stay dirty?” Muri asked behind him, handing him a sponge to scrub himself with. He sat with his back to her, so his embarrassment had subsided a bit after she'd told him she would put him in a bath before she would let him back into her bed.

“This isn't whining, it does burn for real.” Zim lamented, scrubbing at his chest and belly where the dried mud from Cupcake's bath sat the worst. He felt the female grab a hold of his right arm, raising it for her to see properly.

“This is strange.. Your skin looks like you have an allergic reaction, but this is just water. How did you clean yourself in the castle?” She asked, feeling along the spots on Zim's skin that had taken a darker shade of green, making the prince shiver. Why is everyone in this tribe so keen on touching?!

“We have water there, too, but its sterilized before we get in touch with it.” Zim explained then, catching Muri's disbelieving gaze.

“Sterilized? Why the fuck do you do that? It's just water, nothing more, why sterilize it?”

“For the same reasons I react to it now, duh. It kills the pollutants in the water.” Zim added irritated, taking his arm back from the female. Muri said nothing for a while, then she started to giggle, making Zim turn to eye her fully.

“You are so privileged, you know that? Well, you will have to get used to 'normal' water, or your highness won't make it long out here.” 

Zim pouted at her, returning to scrubbing his skin with the sponge. At least they had something to add to the water, or else he would have rather slept on the ground than getting a bath. He tried to ignore the burning feeling and scrubbed faster to get out of the bath. Muri had been so kind to get him his change of clothes from her tent. “You will like the winter camp.” She said suddenly, getting Zim's attention back to her.

“Why?”

“We've got hot springs there. Or rather somewhere near to the camp. It'll be the only way for you to get into hot water, we don't heat up the water for bathing normally.” Muri looked to the sky over them dreamily before she suddenly scowled. “I just hope the other tribes behave this time. Last winter we had a little fight with our rival tribe.” Zim raised his antennae in alarm. Someone had mentioned that other tribes would be there, but just how many would it be?

“What happened?” He asked instead and the female looked somewhere else but not at him.

“The leader of our rival tribe, Purple, is kind of a frenemy to Red. They are always bickering with each other when they share the same breathing space, but last year something had happened. No one knows what it was, since it happened between those two only and Red won't talk about it, but it must have been something.. trivial. In the end we left the camp earlier than normally.”

“That sounds like something more than just bickering if you ask me.” Muri shrugged.

“I just know that whatever it was, Purple was the one that fucked up. He will get an ear full when I see him there, be sure of that.” The female growled lightly. “If you ever want to see me kicking someones ass, come with me when I beat down Purple.”

“I will keep it in mind.” Zim said, suddenly feeling sorry for this stranger. Muri didn't look like she was joking around, and he still remembered the bloody clothing outside of her tent yesterday. “I'd like to get out of the water now, so could you..”

“Of course, sorry.” The female got up and turned around, leaving Zim some privacy when he got out of the wooden tub, drying himself with a strange cloth Muri had readied for him. He quickly got dressed after he had deemed himself dry enough and signaled for the female to turn around again. Her red eyes looked him up and down, finally nodding before turning to the tub, raising it and turning it over, leaving the dirty water to sicker into the earthly ground underneath.

“Let's get back to our tent.” Zim perked up at that.

“OUR tent? Since when is it our tent?”

“Since we are sharing it. You can get your own tent one day, if you stay long enough with us, but for now this will have to do. So you can call it 'your' tent, too.” She smiled at him warmly and Zim felt something strange flood him at that. He stayed where he was and Muri turned to look at him when she realized he wasn't following her. “Something wrong?”

“It's just.. unfair.” Zim said, shaking a bit with all the information going through his brain and PAK. “All I have learned about tribe people is wrong apparently. You are not the wild animals in my books or the wild Irken my father told me stories about. All you do is helping me and being nice, it's nothing like.. I'm so confused.” He finally admitted, staring at the dirt under his naked feet. His naked feet he had never seen like this before and he took a look at his hands, too. They were covered in welled up skin from the water use they had seen today, something he would have never ever encountered while in the castle, where his every wish was read from his eyes by his drones.

He looked at Muri, this tall and strong female, born from a tribe, raised and trained in it, who was now sharing her belongings with a stranger without questioning him, just because she had never learned selfishness. She shared her home with him and her food, which she needed more than Zim, and deep down inside his mind Zim knew that Red, Klig or really anyone else in this tribe would do the same for him, while back in the castle and the city everyone only thought of themselves, not caring if they stole food from someone who needed it direly or if they hurt someone.

Their lives were so different from one another that Zim had trouble to decide what he liked better anymore. He missed his home very much, he missed his father, but at the same time he knew that if he left the tribe he would miss them, too. What he'd seen so far from the tribe life he actually liked and he liked the people he had met, and he knew if he got back to the castle he would be surrounded by his drones and nothing more. Zim never had friends, his minions he had created himself and the slave the only company he'd ever known, but with the tribe it was like he had something like.. a family. And deep down inside of him Zim knew, that he never had one where he came from.

Zim didn't realize that he started crying until he saw the blurry form of the female in front of him, wiping his tears away with her thumps while she caressed his cheeks. “I know it is a lot to take in.” She said calmly, nuzzling her forehead against his which startled him a bit. “But just know that you are safe with us. No matter what comes, you've got us standing behind you, having your back. I don't know how your life was in the castle or as a prince, at all, but judging from your reaction it's a complete 180° of how we are living. It will take time for you to get used to it, but be assured that you get all the time you need from us.” 

Zim hiccuped at that and the tears grew heavier. Muri kept her forehead to his and started to sing a low melody, catching the smaller one's focus on it. Her voice was strange, but it was soothing and the melody was familiar to the prince, he just didn't know where he'd heard it before. He kept listening to it with his eyes slowly closing. The tears subsided after a while and he twitched his antennae some when he heard footsteps approaching. The didn't get close to them, they halted suddenly, before turning to get away again and Zim opened his eyes again. 

“Better?” He heard the female hush and he looked straight into her red seas only inches away from his own magenta ones. He nodded slightly and Muri put some distance between them again, but she kept her hands on his shoulders. “If you need time to yourself, just say so and you will have the tent for yourself. Okay?”

Zim felt like crying again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so tired right now and my language skills are failing me *sigh*
> 
> Anyway, I tried to give the tribe people their own 'language' concerning jobs (as you've already seen) and animals.
> 
> A little trivia:  
-The 'equine companions' are the tribe equivalent of horses, and they look not too different from our normal ones, aside from the eight legs. They refer to all animals that have a use for them as companions, for example a bird would be an 'avian companion'. They are usually used for correspondence between the tribes if the need arises.  
\- What Muri did is a normal reaction to anyone i great distress. Tribe people are very touchy feely and basically know no private space, which btw will confuse Zim hard in the future *spoiler end*  
\- Also, since I won't mention it in the story, the scanner etc Klig and Krog used are powered by normal electricity, they have a generator for that (or basically a giant power bank that they recharge by stealing energy from the city, lol). Otherwise the tribe lives without any tech, except for their PAKs, with candles as a light source and so on.


	9. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is rather short compared to the others and basically just a filler if anything, but hey, I uploaded something. :D

It was late evening when Red heard the tune of a blown horn. 

The leader had taken refuge in his own tent after seeing his sister with Zim, so fucking close, not knowing what was going on with them. Muri had told him that she was worried for Zim, but she never said anything more, and from his point of view it looked a lot like they had been kissing when he'd seen them.

Jealousy was an ugly thing once it craned its ugly head at you, and Red had never known that feeling before. Well, not entirely, but not in that intensity. He hated it already, but he knew for a fact that they had not been kissing. He knew his sister way too good for that, and he knew how she consoled others and that she always got physically close, but still the jealousy stayed and told him all kinds of things he knew to be nonsense.

The return of their hunters was a very welcome distraction for him in that moment, and he stepped out of his tent as he saw the first ones ride into the camp on their equine companions. The animals roared and huffed when they came to a halt a few feet away from Red, and the first hunter saluted to Red while jumping from his companion.

“My leader, we have returned with prey and news.” The hunter's leader, Huk, told him and Red felt dread sink into his stomach. He hated when they came back with news. That Huk hadn't said if they were good or bad normally meant that they were bad, too, so the leader sighed deeply.

“Load off your things and greet your families first, then you can come to my tent and tell me.” Red said and eyed the other hunters that rode in after Huk. They looked beaten up and his stomach dropped at the sight. It was normal that they came back with wounds, but they looked like they had been to war, and that wasn't exactly good. 

Their move after the winter camp was more than necessary.

He waited in his tent for an hour until Huk came in, his wounds nursed by his mate, resulting in him carrying bandages around his arms and legs. He looked tired to death and Red felt bad for him.

“Take a seat, please.” He pointed to his bed but Huk shook his head no. Red sighed heavily and nodded. “Tell me the news.”

“There is a raised activity of guards and strange enough, Vortians, around the city. They attacked us when we hunted about 3 miles away from them, for no reason.” Huk breathed a pained breath, rubbing where his rips were. “They scared away our prey, too. I don't know why the guards were out of city that far, they normally don't leave the walls.”

Red rubbed his chin in thought. That was strange indeed, but after what he witnessed on Klig's tablet he didn't really wonder about anything concerning those city idiots. “Well, the guest we have with us right now comes from the city, but he was used for some kind of sick experiment. Maybe the news about him fleeing from the prison got them to move.”

“My leader, with all due respect, I doubt that this guest has something to do with it. We have been hunting for two weeks and they attacked us the first time after we have been on the hunt for two days.” The hunter looked as confused as Red felt. “Who is this guest anyway? If he's from the city, Spork will have said something against him to you.”

Huk did have a point there. He hadn't heard from the old bastard since their last encounter. “He did, but he can suck it. Our ethics demand us to help, no matter his origin.”

“You are a good leader, Red.” Huk smiled at him tiredly, showing his age in the wrinkles that crinkled around his eyes. “Sometimes your heart is too kind, though. I hope this guest doesn't use your kindness for something bad, otherwise I can promise you that you whole tribe will rip him apart for you.”

Red laughed a bit at that, feeling the tension easing from his body slowly. “Please tell me you have hunted enough meat for us, that would be some good news for a change.”

“We've gotten a bit less than last year around this time, but it will do. The females have already started to prepare it for the travel, we should be ready to go once they are finished.”

“That's good. Please rest until then and tell your men the same, we need all of you ready once we start our journey.” The leader put a hand on Huk's shoulder. “Thank you all for your hard work.”

Huk laughed and put a hand on Red's. “Did I ever tell you that everyone in this tribe is glad that you took over the leadership after Spork? We do better than ever now, please keep that in mind once we arrive in the winter camp. I'm sure Purple will start to antagonize you right of the bat when he sees you.”

Red's ruby eyes turned darker at the mention of his arch enemy. “Oh, he can try.”

-

“This is a lot of meat.” Zim stared at the pile of dead flesh in front of him while he accompanied the females with preparing the food for their travel. He was told to keep his hands to himself and just watch and learn, and the prince was more than okay with that. He had never seen meat in raw animal form before and his stomach took some turns when he saw the women taking it apart without a care in the world, cutting it into pieces and piling it in ration baskets.

“Well, duh, we need it. Maybe you will start eating it, too.” Yeeza said next to him with her hands inside some poor animal, taking its intestines out. Zim held his puke back and tried to look somewhere else.

“I doubt that. I've never eaten meat in my life.” He said, slightly disgusted at the image in his head of him eating meat, blood dripping from his chin while he bit and ripped parts of it out. He shivered. Yeeza looked at him from the corner of her eyes, grinning.

“Just snacks, huh? You're missing out, shorty.”

“I lived just fine without meat, and stop calling me that.” Zim pouted and Yeeza chuckled next to him, getting back to her task at hand. 

Zim had only heard the hunters returning but he hadn't seen them, since Muri had told him to stay in their tent while she had left. She had muttered something about coordinating the females with their important work and the prince didn't ask any questions. He had been fetched by her some time later, and now the red eyed female sat across from Yeeza and him, covered in blood from the animals she took apart for the others.

Considered how soft she had been to Cupcake he seriously wondered where the tripe drew the line between pets and food. 

“Want to try it yourself?” The pink eyed female next to him asked suddenly and Zim shook his head violently.

“Hell, no!” He screeched, but he closed his mouth quickly when he saw all of the heads of the females turned to watch him. Zim felt heat creep into his whole body when no one said a word, until one of them started to chuckle and the rest followed until there was laughter all around him.

“You're lucky you are so cute.” One of the females said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. 

“Yeah, considered that you are a male you should have another duty in this tribe.” Another one laughed, and the prince perked up at that.

“What do you mean, duty? I am technically here against my will.” More laughter from the women.

“Muri, I thought you have given him a look into how a tribe works.” An older female laughed next to Muri, poking her in her rips which startled her shortly. She looked slightly ashamed, with a lightly darker hue on her cheeks.

“This is his first day actively living with us, I can only do so much.” She pouted and the elder female snorted something in return.

“Are you good with smeets?” The female on Zim's other side suddenly threw in, making the prince's eyes go big.

“Smeets? I have never seen one before, aside from the time I met some of you for the first time.”

A collective row of shocked gasps was heard from the group and Zim feared he had broken them when he saw their disbelieving faces.

“You are joking!”

“No way that can be true!”

“Everyone has seen at least one smeet in their lifetime!”

The women were talking over each other, dropping their utensils and meats to gather around the prince in a speed that shocked him slightly. The only ones who didn't were Muri and Yeeza, the last still sitting on her spot next to him, working.

“Please, this is a bad joke, right?” One of the females asked, getting way to close to Zim's face in the process. “Everyone knows smeets, everyone loves them, there are surely smeets in the city, right?”

“I've never left the castle, I really can't tell you!” Zim cried in panic, trying to get away from her face, only to bump into the legs of another one right behind him. “This is the truth!” He added when murmurs arose around him. “The smeets I saw when I met some of you were the first ones I ever saw, I swear!”

Suddenly there was silence, only broken by the clanging and ripping of Yeeza's working next to him. Then they dispersed again, taking back their seats and getting back to work. Zim stared in confusion and sat up straight again, looking over the women.

“I am glad I haven't been raised in the city. Or the castle.” He heard the elderly one say, throwing him a sad look. “You poor thing have missed so much while living in there, this is just sad.”

Zim wanted to answer something in return, but he closed his mouth when he heard the agreeing sounds from the other females. Yeeza next to him snorted softly. “Don't take it personal. You city guys think of us as dumb beasts, while we tribe members pity you in return. This won't be the last time you'll hear something like that.”

Zim believed her a hundred percents.

-

That evening they did have a feast and the prince used his time to watch and learn more of the tribe's behavior. If he really had to stay with them for now he better made do with what he could observe.

He noted that nearly everyone seemed to be there, celebrating the return of their hunters. The only one missing was the tribe's leader, which Zim found to be odd, considered that a leader should always be with his people. The others didn't seem to be bothered by his absence, they kept on talking, eating and laughing, enjoying each others company. The prince thought it to be endearing, even if he felt left out of it.

It was his own fault, really, as Muri had offered him a seat next to her where she had sat down with Yeeza and the recently re-appeared Klig. He had declined, more intent to sit far off the main action to observe the situation.

They had set up a fire in the middle of the place, along with some kind of structure over it. They had hung the meat there, and Zim smelled its strange scent coming his way. He had never smelled something like that and he didn't know what to make of it, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. He would still refuse to eat this meat, he'd rather starve.

Yeeza had explained to him that meat was their number one food and wholly needed to keep them from losing muscle mass or much needed body fat during the winter. Zim couldn't help himself, he did compare them to animals in that moment. But it made sense, so he would not make fun of them for it, after all it was for their survival. And they had survived until now, right?

Observation number two was focused on the smeets he saw. There were 8 in total, 4 of them already taller than him, running around the fire in their playing, two were shorter and sitting with their parents, and two were seemingly new born ones. One new born was so tiny that it fit into one of its mother's hands completely and Zim wondered how something so very small could grow so freaking tall. He still thought they were cute, though. Until one of the bigger ones ran up to him and stopped shortly in front of him.

“You wanna play with us, buddy?” It asked and grinned at Zim who got startled a bit by the sudden approach. The kid looked at him with wide blue eyes and the prince felt something inside him warm shortly.

“No, thank you, I'm good.” He smiled in answer at which the kid nodded and ran back to its friends. He watched them play some more before he turned his focus back to the fire. Some women were taking the meat of its hook and put it into a metal box, most likely for the travel that was soon to come. Zim didn't really understand why they even traveled to a winter camp, the weather in this area was warm, even in winter, so why go there? He should ask Muri next time he was alone with her.

“You are lucky Red is the leader.” Someone suddenly growled next to him and Zim jumped on the spot, looking into green, crinkled eyes that stared at him in utter dismay.

“And who are you?” Zim asked then, making the stranger come closer to him, ever growling.

“That's none of your business, city bastard. If it were for me I would have killed you while still unconscious.” 

Zim hated this guy already. He was tall but stood with a curved back, wrinkles in his ugly face and around his tiny eyes, wearing a green kimono with fur on his shoulders that was so long it swept the ground behind him. His breath reeked of foul food and he seemed to have lost some teeth already. Zim swallowed the gag when his breath grazed him and in turn looked away, where he saw Muri and Yeeza watching him, the first one with a death glare in her eyes set on the newcomer. He realized quickly that the whole tribe was watching them now. Zim swallowed uneasily.

“Do us all a favor and just go away before we start traveling. You are nothing but a hindrance to us.” The old one said before he turned to walk back into the shadows he seemed to have come from. Zim watched him go, sweat collecting on his neck and forehead.

He wanted to go, he really did. Did he? He had a breakdown about that earlier and now someone actually told him that he wasn't wished for in this tribe? What was he supposed to believe now?

-

It was late in the night, Muri laid next to him with her back to him while Zim stared at the tent's ceiling trough the overhung curtains.

The meeting still sat in his bones. He felt uneasy in his skin lying next to a tribe member now. He knew he was being paranoid or something, but still he silently went through all things against leaving in his mind. There were next to none, the only one that was really there were those damn tribe ethics.

And maybe his growing admiration for the people here.

Zim tossed onto his side, showing his own back to Muri's and huffing an irritated breath. He could just leave now, and no one would know of it until it was too late. But something held him back. Like a tiny voice in the back of his head that told him that it would be better to stay. Zim didn't know where that voice came from, since it sounded none like himself, but rather like a female voice that was familiar but alien at the same time.

Where did that come from?

The prince fought with himself as the sudden urge to move crept up his back, but he didn't want to stir the female next to him. But he knew that the nervous energy had to go so he slowly lifted himself from the bedding and slid to the floor, careful not to make a sound. Muri moaned quietly at that and moved to lay on her back, but thankfully she didn't wake up. Zim freed himself of the curtains and once freed, he searched for his clothes. Putting them on he watched Muri for any reaction, but he got none. He sighed quietly and grabbed his furred coat, throwing it on himself and went to the entrance. Muri kept a net over it at night like Red did, and Zim ducked under it so he didn't disturb anything while he got out of the tent.

It was cold outside but not freezing, and Zim looked around in the dark to look for any shape he could have made out, but there was none. So he walked till he got the more lived at camp side and steered for the middle of the place where he knew the fire had been. It was put out of course, but he could still see the stones that built a big circle for the fire. He looked around then, searching for any light in another tent or something, and he found one when he looked at Red's tent. Not only that, he could see his shape behind the leathery walls as he seemed to be walking around in his home.

Having no where else to go he steered for the tent and when he got close enough he heard the argument going on inside.


	10. Nightly activities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. HATE. IT. 
> 
> Seriously, I hate this chapter with a passion you cannot imagine, and I just wip it out now because it has been too long, AND I WANT TO GET PROGRESS WITH THE STORY; HOLY HELL.
> 
> *cough* Anyway, I hope you like it better than I do. Mind the tags tho.

Red was woken up in the rudest way possible.

By water to his face. 

The next thing he saw was Spork leaning over him, growling deep in his chest with heavy fury in his green eyes.

“What the- Get out of my tent, you sick-” Red started, but he was interrupted by a clawed hand over his mouth that pushed his head back into the pillows, followed by a hissing from the elder.

“You are the worst leader this tribe has ever seen in its whole history. I told you to get rid of that pest, and what did you do? You let him stay, you are even keeping him here against his will! What in Irk's name is wrong with you?!” Spork shouted at him with obvious anger in his voice, but Red would not be pushed down by this asshole. He grabbed the arm the hand on his mouth was attached to and pulled, putting the elder off balance and pushing him back as hard as he could half-lying. Spork stumbled back a few steps but he didn't fall, and Red threw the covers off him and jumped from the bad, getting into a battle stance.

“How dare you come into my home like that!” The leader growled, showing teeth. “If you have something to tell me you could have done so in the morning, but this is a violation of security!”

“Hah! Security my sweet ass! If you gave a shit about security you would have let that rat go back to his beloved city!” Spork crossed his arms over his chest and stood as tall as he could with his old back. Red felt irritation crawl up his spine at the blatant display of disrespect against his leadership.

And here he thought Purple was a problem.

“Why does this bother you so much? If he acts up we can always kill him and you know that, but he hasn't so far and he is well liked by the tribe. You are the only one who wants him gone!” Red roared a bit while he marched up to the former leader. “If Zim bothers you that much, how about you look for another tribe to become a part of then? I am sure the others would be glad to have such an old bastard up their asses!”

“What did you just call me? I deserve respect, I am the former leader!”

“I'll treat you the same way as you treat me, so cut the crap! Get out of my tent before I do something you wouldn't like.” Red didn't bother to hide his anger anymore, his red eyes glistening with murder. Spork just laughed at him.

“Ah, yes. Do it. I am sure the tribe will like you even more when they find out that you hurt me over a mere 'guest'.” The green clad elder spat the word with a dirty smirk. “You need me, Red. What will the other tribes think of you if you did it? Do you think you would still be well liked then?”

Red didn't give a single damn about what the other tribes would think. He knew for a fact that Spork was hated by them the same as he was hated from his own tribe, no one would even bat an eyelash if he did it. But the elder had a point, they still needed him. Red hissed at Spork.

“Just leave me alone.”

“Fine.” Spork snorted. “Trust me, that rat will do something stupid that endangers our tribe, you just don't know it yet. Don't come running up to me when he does, though.” With that he threw one last victorious look at Red and turned to leave. He was outside of the tent when Red heard his voice again, this time quieter. He didn't understand what he was saying so he crept closer to his home's entrance.

-

“Listening to other peoples conversations seems to be a thing in the city, huh?”

Zim regretted ever coming up to Red's tent the second the smelly old guy came out of it. Talk about perfect timing. The prince looked up into the sneering face of the other, suddenly feeling a little bit ill.

“You should go while you still can, rat. Listen to your heart or something like that. For this tribe you are nothing but a stone in a boot. They will get rid of you one day, trust me.” The elder smirked as he looked back to the tent's entrance. Zim looked there, too, and he saw Red coming out of it just that second, growling like the prince had never heard him growl before, his gaze set on the green taller.

“Leave, Spork. This is your final warning.” The leader said quietly, threateningly, deadly. Zim looked between the two taller ones in anxious wonder, silently asking himself what was going on between those two. The green one just huffed and turned, leaving in slow motion. Zim watched him go until he could not see him anymore, then he looked at Red, who's now piercing ruby eyes stared at the spot where this Spork was visible the last time. He was still growling, low in his chest, and the smaller one swallowed nervously.

“Is- is everything alright?” He asked after a few seconds, snapping the leader out of his trance. Rube eyes blinked at him in confusion, like he hadn't even seen him standing there, before they grew warm again, looking so much like the eyes that Zim had grown used to.

“Sure, just had a little talk with him. What are you even doing out here? You should be sleeping.” Red smiled at Zim, so unlike the demeanor the prince had just witnessed like, two minutes ago. It was kind of strange, but Zim would not question it. He shuffled his feet.

“I had a run in with this guy earlier today, it's still in my head. I can't find rest right now.”

“I see..” Red put a hand on his chin in thought. “Well, I am up now, too. Wanna join me for a walk?”

“Now? But what about those ghosts?” Zim shivered when he remembered his encounter with one of them. He rubbed his arms.

“I think we will be safe tonight. See the moon up there?” Red pointed into the sky and Zim followed his movement, looking at the bright round moon sitting there, illuminating their surroundings a bit. “It's full moon. For some reasons they don't come out when that's the case.”

“I would have never thought that ghosts are picky.” Zim murmured to himself, but Red heard him either way. He snorted in amusement and started to walk. Zim followed after him, wondering where the leader was heading when they headed down the camp. They passed the fire place, Huk's tent and some more Zim didn't know the inhabitants of, until they got to the biggest tent the camp had to offer. Zim had crossed it a few times while he walked through the camp with Muri, but he never gave it any thought. Maybe because he hadn't heard any huffing and other strange sounds coming from it before.

Red parted the curtains and stepped aside, motioning for Zim to enter first. The prince tried to will the blush down that tried to creep up his cheeks and walked briskly into the tent before the leader caught wind of it. Knowing Red he would probably only make fun of him for it. Zim was met by the smell of hay and sweat before he spotted the equine companions, each one of them standing in their designated spot. Some appeared to be asleep, some others eyed the newcomers in genuine curiosity.

One of them stepped forward and came up to them, making Zim jump to find cover behind the leader's legs. Red laughed at that and proceeded to pet Zim's head with three well timed pats, earning him a growl from the prince. One day Zim would bite his hand, he swore to himself. The black equine companion came up to Red, sniffing at his outstretched hand before nuzzling it gently. Zim watched the whole display and deemed it safe to get out of cover, standing next to the taller Irken.

“Zim, this is Blackberry. My personal equine buddy.” Red said warmly, scratching the animal's broad nose. “She's a soft one, but she freaks out when someone who isn't me sits on her. Muri has broken a few bones when Blackberry threw her off when I got her.”

“That isn't what I would describe as 'soft'.” The smaller one answered, jumping back a bit when Blackberry lowered her head to sniff at the side of his neck. She huffed warm air against his cheek, making Zim shiver slightly. “Why are we even here?” “He held up his right hand, holding it out for her to sniff. She made a sound of content after she was finished and raised her head to nuzzle Red's left cheek, making the leader giggle lowly.

“We will ride her of course. I know a place that can distract us from Spork.”

“Didn't you just say that only you can ride her?” Zim raised a non existent eyebrow at the other, confusion sparkling in his magenta eyes. 

“I did, yes. It will work, trust me.” Red walked back to the entrance and took a rope from a stand next to it, looping it around Blackberry's neck and tying a loose knot. He pulled at it lightly and the equine companion trotted after him. Zim followed with some distance, not yet trusting those huge animals. Especially after Red told him that they would ride on her.

Blackberry came to a halt once they were out of the tent and Red scratched the side of her neck tenderly. Then he turned around and looked at Zim. “This will be a bit awkward now.” 

“What do you mean?” Zim stepped back a bit when Red bowed down to him. The leader grabbed him without warning under his arms and lifted him, over his head and sat him onto his shoulders. 

“Hang on.” Red warned shortly before he turned to face the side of his animal again. He put one hand into her mane and the other on her back and proceeded to lift them up in the air, swinging his left leg over her back and settling down as gently as he could, his feet dangling in the air now. Zim had grabbed his antennae in panic at the sudden and quick action and he continued to hold onto them when Red reached for him again. 

“Could you please let go of my antennae? You are hurting my good one right now.” The leader half hissed, but Zim wouldn't let him have that.

“You-! You could have given me a warning!” He screeched, making the one he sat on twitch at the volume of his voice. Zim tugged at the stalks in his hands for emphasis, eliciting a whine from the leader.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please let go of them!” Red bowed his head back to take some strength from Zim's antennae tugging, shutting his eyes while he reached for Zim's hands to gently pry them from the stalks. The prince pulled them back abruptly at that, nearly sending himself flying off Red's shoulders, but thankfully the taller one had grasped his hands in a reflexive motion, keeping him there. “Just- let me put you down again.” He hung his head and pulled Zim by his arms, putting in the V of his lap. Zim felt warmth built in his body when he realized how this must have looked to anyone who might have watched them.

Red grasped the rope in his hands again, trapping the prince between his arms while he signaled to Blackberry to move forward. The strong muscles they were sitting on moved fluidly, like flowing water under the warm fur. Zim tried not to let himself sink back against Red's mid section to not embarrass himself any more than he unwillingly already had.

“You will only hurt yourself if you sit stiff like that.” The leader said behind him when they exited the camp, going down a path that seemed to be well used. Entering the woods also took some of the bright moonlight, making it harder for Zim to see his surroundings. He squinted his eyes in concentration, getting startled by the hand that suddenly pushed against his chest, pressing him back into the one sitting behind him. “We have a bit of a way to get behind us, so you better get comfortable.” Red sounded a bit exasperated and Zim drew in a shaky breath, trying to calm himself and his traitorous body down.

As soon as Red took the rope in both hands he signaled for the animal to move faster, pushing the prince back even more when Blackberry followed his command and started to slowly go from a walk into a run. Zim grasped for anything that he could reach, which was the cloth that hid Red's legs from view, securing his claws into it as best as he could. Due to the wind that suddenly enveloped him he couldn't hear the silent snickering behind him.

~

They arrived at a strange cave after half an hour of riding. Zim felt a whole new level of nervous cruising through his body when he saw the pitch black hole in the gigantic stone, a darkness even darker than the one they were already in, and he turned his head to look at the leader behind him. 

"We're here. From here on we need to walk." Red announced matter of factly, smiling down at Zim, or at least Zim thought that he was smiling at him. It was hard to tell in the dark. But he felt things way more intense than before and he got startled when Red tried to grab his sides to lift him again. 

"I think I can get down without your help." The prince bristled, earning a slightly annoyed huff in return. 

"Have it your way then." Red put his hands behind Zim's butt and onto Blackberry's back to lift himself up, swinging his left leg over the animals rear and landing gently next to her. Zim looked down at him, silently expecting the leader to try to help him either way, but nothing happened. Red did look up at him though. 

"I'm waiting." Zim could hear the grin in his voice and pouted. 

"Just- let me figure this out." Zim grasped Blackberry's mane in his hands and bend forward a bit, trying to see where the ground started, before he swung himself in a quick motion and jumped down, thankfully landing on his hands and feet, but hissing in discomfort when he felt the strain the impact put on his delicate muscles. He stood up shakily but he held his head high, trying not to let the leader know that he indeed could have used his help but was too proud to just say so. Red was watching him silently, shaking his head at him when Zim looked up at him, smiling a bit. 

"You ready? Let's go." 

Red started walking into the cave, Zim hot at his heels to not lose the other Irken. They didn't walk for long through the cave since it was relatively short in length, and when they got out at it's exit they were greeted by a path illuminated by moonlight, with tiny swarming lights flying through the air. Zim stared in awe at the display, his magenta eyes scanning the area while he slowly walked forward, Red staying behind him this time. Strange looking trees lined up next to the path, their long, hanging leaves glowing a low white light. The path led to a sparkling pond. Zim stopped when he got the the pond's edge, looking down into the strangely quiet waters. He saw no reflection of himself in the fluid but instead saw straight down to it's bottom, which was sparkling strangely, too. 

"I have never seen water so clear before.." The prince murmured to himself, slowly reaching with a hand into the water, feeling the cold of it on his skin and drawing circles into it. 

"This used to be our praying place." Red said behind him sounding solemn and when Zim turned to look at him he saw the sad gaze the leader gave the water. "It isn't a holy space anymore. The water was tainted by the blood of innocent lives long ago." 

Zim pulled his hand so quickly out of the water that he hurt his shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me that before I put my hand in there?!" He screeched, rubbing the wet hand on his clothes in disgust. Red moved to kneel next to him, folding his hands in his lap. In the shine of the moonlight his face took a strange shade of color, making him look like he was a ghost himself. Or at least Zim imagined those beings to look like that. 

"You were too quick, I'm sorry." 

"I don't believe you." 

"Hah, alright." Red had a light smile on his lips but his eyes never left the water. "Back then I was just a child. But I still remember the time vividly, like it happened just yesterday." The ruby eyed Irken rubbed his scar absent-minded, leaving Zim to wonder where he even got it. He knew that Muri had a scar on her neck, too, he had seen it when she had taken her scarf off to sleep, hers being right on the opposite side of Red's. Did they..? 

"Spork will probably kill me if he ever knew that we are here. No matter what happened, this is a special place and will forever be. Even if we never come back here again." 

"Never come back? What do you mean?" Zim continued to look at the leader, waiting for an answer. Red sighed quietly, closing his eyes for a moment before he returned Zim's gaze. 

"This is the last time we built our camp in this forest. While we're in winter camp we will simultaneously look for a new place to stay during the warm seasons. This forest has gotten to active in terms of ghosts and the likes."

"And how do you plan on letting me get back home, once you deem me healthy enough?" Red startled a bit at that, his reaction making the prince highly curious. He looked into the other direction, not meeting Zim's gaze. 

"I haven't thought about that until now to be honest. I was kind of pushing it back until after winter camp." He scratched his right cheek while looking like a smeet caught doing something forbidden, and Zim felt his eye twitch. He sucked in a calming breath before he spoke. 

"Just so you know, I will go back to the city. I won't stay, this is no place for me to be at all. Even if you lot are good people.." The prince looked back to the clear water, the pond forgotten for a hot minute. "I am heir to the throne, I have a duty, so to speak." 

"Really?" Red's tone changed a bit, sounding angry all of the sudden, making Zim in turn wondering what he did wrong now. 

"What is it to you?" 

Red sighed heavily. "I don't know." He lied, Zim could tell. "Just, the tribe likes you. You'd fit in pretty well with us, ya know? Maybe winter camp will change how you think about going back." 

"I have been with you for about two days, and you already say I fit in? Didn't you hear what this green dude thinks of me?" 

The leader growled at that. "Who cares what Spork thinks, he's as good as dead."

"I see someone else who is as good as dead."

Both Irken turned around so fast their antennae flopped heavily in the wind, just that Red got into a protective stance in front of Zim, pulling a dagger out of nowhere. Zim tried to see over the leader's back, only to be met with a green robe. Speaking of the devil, he thought. Spork eyed them both with so much hatred in his green eyes that they would have both died on the spot if looks could kill. 

"You went to far this time, Red. I should have never let you take over the tribe, you are a disgrace to our people. Showing an outsider this holy place? Oh I thought you were smarter than that." The elder held a sword in his hands, Zim belatedly realized, and a shiver ran down his back. 

"Get to safety, hide somewhere. This will get ugly. " Red whispered to him, just a second before the elder charged at him. 

-

Red blocked the sword before it could pierce his side. Considered that he only had a dagger he felt kind of proud of himself. Spork let out an angry cry when Red pushed him back and kicked into his belly with his right leg, making the elder stumble back a few feet. Spork spit out some saliva just for spite before he charged at him again with his sword held high above his head, getting ready to slash it onto the leaders head, but Red parried before the blade came even close to be dangerous, using the short metal of his dagger to push the sword back. He needed to disarm the elder, or else this would take longer than necessary. 

Red did not fear Spork. He knew that he was better than him in terms of fighting, and the elder knew that, too. But that hadn't hindered him from trying to attack them at all, so Red would give it his best to put the elder into his place - or to end this, once and for all. 

"Don't even try, Spork, we both know how this will end." Red tried though, but the green clad elder didn't listen. He only threw him a dirty look and charged once more, this time from beneath. Red blocked him again and pushed with all his strength, finally sending the elder stumbling to the ground. Red used the short time window to look out for Zim, trying to see where the prince had chosen to hide. He saw magenta eyes peeking out behind a thick tree and he tried to smile reassuringly at Zim, but his cheek connected with a fist before he could even raise the edges of his mouth. Red stumbled back a bit but he stayed upright, quickly dodging the sword that followed the fist by ducking to the side. He changed the way he held his dagger to quickly press it against Spork's throat, making the elder stop in his movements immediately. 

"Do it." Spork said through clenched teeth, locking eyes with Red. "I want to remind you that you need me though. I am irreplaceable to the tribe." 

"Oh, I am sure we can do just fine without you. We have other people who can talk well." Red smashed his head against Spork's, making the elder cry out in pain and stumble back. "I don't want to kill you, even if I have every reason to now. You attacked your leader, and you did it in a holy place.”

“As if that would make anything better for you. You brought an outsider here, you know that that is against our rules. You broke them first!”

“Is this really how you want to discuss this?” Red huffed a laugh at Spork for that. “I have my reasons for bringing him here. Reasons that proved something to me. I would have explained it to you one day, but I guess that won't happen now.”

“There is nothing to explain. Either you die tonight, or I do, but either way your days as the leader are numbered!” Spork shouted at Red and charged again, raising his sword to aim at Red's middle, but the leader swayed to the side, getting out of Spork's way and pushed him into the pond once Spork was by his side. There was a loud splash and the elder flailed around at first, sputtering words that made no sense, before he started to scream in agony while the pond began to glow. The water began to ripple and sizzle, throwing mist into the air while Spork continued to scream and gargle. 

Red watched the clear water turn into a pinkish hue while he slowly lost sight of the elder, the mist getting too thick to see through it. The leader looked to his side where he saw Zim slowly come out of hiding, staring at the spectacle in the pond while pulling his antennae down towards his shoulders, a distressed look in his beautiful eyes. Red could not blame him, what he saw or heard right now was not what anyone would want to witness willingly.

“What is happening to him?!” Zim screamed over the elder's slowly subsiding cries for help, once he got to stand next to Red, not taking his gaze away from the sizzling, now completely pink water.

“The gods do him justice.” That was all Red said. Zim would never understand it if he tried to explain it now, he knew that. The prince stared up at him with wide eyes, clearly not satisfied with the answer he had gotten, but he kept silent once he saw Red's expression. Both of them kept watching until the sizzling subsided, Spork didn't scream anymore, and the water slowly cleared again. Red heard the smaller one gasp in confusion when the pond was void of any trace of the elder, it's water as clear again as it had been before.

“How-? What-?” Zim got to the pond's edge again, holding his hand into the cold liquid like he had before. “Why isn't this happening now?!”

“Simply put, because you haven't done someone injustice. To explain it to you further would not make any sense to you I'm afraid.” Red smiled at the prince when they locked eyes again. “You are a good hearted person, that's what it mostly means.”

Zim's face grew a deeper shade of green at that and he looked away quickly. “You just threw someone in a pond that made him vanish, what kind of science is this? I've got to know!” He pulled his hand out of the water and sprung to his feet, staring up at the leader with a still there blush on his cheeks. Red tried not to grin at that.

“Let's get back. We still have a lot of things to do.” And I have to explain to my tribe why our speaker isn't here anymore, Red thought to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> On a side note y'all should be able to find my tumblr now, I was flagged as explicit for a year without me knowing, haha.. Hit me up if you have questions, or just to chat! (Also, everything belonging to this fic is tagged under 'Fic: Hunting for you'. For those who have not seen, I made a crappy cover for the fic AND I drew the main girls, so there's that.)


End file.
